Matthew 13:33
“Another parable spake he unto them; The kingdom of heaven is like unto leaven, which a woman took, and hid in three measures of meal, till the whole was leavened.”
When I was a boy, my mother would oftentimes make bread. There was nothing like walking into the house and smelling the fresh bread that she made. Every once in awhile I would ask my mother if I could help her make the bread. She always obliged, and I would wash my hands and begin to help my mother make bread. As we would put the ingredients together, she would give me a small packet of yeast that I was supposed to put into the dough. She would often say that without the yeast the bread won’t be good. She would say that the yeast helped the bread to rise. When we were done mixing the bread and putting the dough in the pans, I was always entertained by slowly waiting for the dough to rise before it could be put into the oven to cook. That small packet of yeast made a flat piece of dough rise to a good size so that the loaf of bread would be soft and fluffy.
God compared the Kingdom of Heaven to that small packet of yeast. Leaven is yeast. It is interesting that God used leaven as the illustration because leaven is always a symbol of sin. Yet, God said that the Kingdom of Heaven is like a woman who pours the leaven into the dough to make bread. God says that the Kingdom of Heaven is just like that leaven that eventually leavens the whole bread. Let me tell you what God was trying to teach.
First, God is teaching that He uses sinful people to do His work. Leaven is a type of sin, and yet the Kingdom of Heaven was likened unto it. Friend, God uses people like you and me to do His work. What an honor! God could have used anyone else to do His work, but He chose to use sinners. Don’t ever let the Devil trick you into believing that you are too sinful to be used of God, for God uses sinners to do His work on Earth.
Second, the work God uses you to do will not immediately show results. The leaven in the dough doesn’t immediately make the dough to rise, but over time and with a little heat the dough rises to the level where it can be cooked. Likewise, the work you do for God will not give immediate results. You must be patient with your work and not get discouraged. It can certainly become disheartening not to see any fruits for your labors, but if you will be patient, you will see the influence your work for God has had on the lives of individuals.
Third, the leaven doesn’t do the work alone, but it needs other forces to help activate it. The leaven in the dough needs some heat to make it rise, and the Christian needs the power of the Holy Spirit to make their anemic works influential. If you think you can do the work alone, you are only hurting yourself. Friend, it is the power of the Holy Spirit working within you that allows you to be able to penetrate the hearts and influence them for right. You can do the works of God alone, but your works will fall flat just like the dough will stay flat without the heat.
I refer back to the illustration of helping my mother make bread. There was nothing like tasting the bread immediately after it came out of the oven. Oftentimes the whole family would come and want a piece of the fresh bread out of the oven because it was so good and tasty. Likewise, when a Christian realizes that it is not in their goodness that they are used, but it is in God’s power that they are used, then the Holy Spirit uses us to help spiritually feed others and to give them a good taste of Christ.
Let me encourage you today to let God work through you to lead someone to Christ. There is someone who needs the taste of the Bread of Life, and God uses sinful people like you and me to reach them. If we yield to His Holy Spirit and be patient for Him to work through us in them, then we will find His works will satisfy those who are spiritually hungry.