Thursday, March 31, 2011

March 31, 2011

I'm not an excellent baker. I barely squeak by as a Kraft-macaroni-preparer. Despite this, I am still spoken to when yeast is referenced in the Bible. From my (limited) understanding, yeast is a reactant used to cause rising in doughs. Yeast reproduces rapidly and dies upon baking. Dough containing yeast that is not carefully monitored has the potential to rise out of control. It came up this morning in Galatians 5:9- "A little yeast works through the whole batch of dough." The context of the verse is a letter of encouragement from Paul (because, to my knowledge, Paul pretty much only wrote letters of encouragement). In this portion, he is warning against lies and manipulations that are not in keeping with Christ's word. It takes a relatively small amount of yeast to produce a large reaction in a large batch. A small lie does not only affect its one department. A small lie gives your mind permission to manipulate truth, which can't NOT take effect on the whole person. Yeast is also mentioned from Jesus's mouth in Luke 13:20. In this passage, however, it's used to describe the Kingdom of God. The same interpretation of small agent produces large reaction fits here in a positive way, with so many facets. A small amount of Word produces such large life changes in its reader. A small act of love produces deeper trust in a relationship. A small amount of believers in the earth are responsible for filling such a large population. Believers are called to distribute ourselves amongst people and to be the reactive agents there. We are responsible for doing the work that causes rise around us. We are to be the yeast of God's earth. Romans 1:20 says that God's wonders can be understood by what He has made. It makes me wonder- Did Jesus and Paul coincidentally find these parallels about yeast, or did God design yeast to be inspired by His kingdom at work?

1 comment:

  1. Love it Jenny! Great insight and inspirations. As believers we have alot of work cut out for us if we are going to make this earth a great loaf of bread. You have a great gift of being able to make connections from God's word and apply that to daily life. Thank you for your insight. I am not brave enough to publicize my thoughts and feelings as openly as you, that takes alot of confidence in your beliefs and strength to do.

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