“He told them still another parable: ‘The kingdom of heaven is like yeast that a woman took and mixed into a large amount of flour until it worked all through the dough.’” — Matthew 13:33 (NIV84)

This parable always gives me the sense of being involved in a covert operation. When I was a kid I loved playing capture the flag. I would hide in the worst of places and quietly move closer and closer, undetected, until I could steal the other team’s flag. Well, as weird as that may sound, that is the impression I always get when I read this parable. Jewish people have been making bread for centuries. Sometimes they make it without yeast (unleavened) and sometimes with yeast (leavened). The dough has no clue what is going on (if it could know anything in the first place). But follow my thinking if you can. The dough is dough. It makes bread. But when yeast is added to the dough, something incredible takes place. The dough (still bread) becomes completely transformed from within. The yeast secretly and quietly works over time to change the bread’s appearance, texture, and taste.

Jesus says that the kingdom of heaven is just like that. His Word of truth works within us over time to quietly transform our lives. For those of us who have been touched by the yeast of God’s Word, we know of its transforming power. It has made us completely new. It has changed our appearance, texture, and taste. Even people around us talk of the change that has occurred within us. All of this is being said to point out the power of the Word of God and the true intent of the kingdom of heaven. It is the Lord’s desire that we be transformed by the renewing of our hearts and minds by the power of His Holy Spirit.

But the true power of the kingdom’s yeast is its power to multiply. A loaf of bread may be transformed by a little yeast. But the process stops there. The loaf of bread stands alone, transformed. But not so with us! We have the ability to be yeast to the world around us. Once we have been leavened by the Word of the kingdom of heaven, we can become leaven to the world around us. By simply sharing what God has done to and for us, we can spread a little yeast on the people God has placed in our lives. We can become covert agents in a world of darkness, secretly spreading light, one by one, to people we know. The fun part of all this is that we get to do it right under the nose of the enemy.

Let’s be a little covert today.

Peace!

Pastor Tom

www.firmlyrooted.church