The natural result of an encounter with the Kingdom of God, is permanent transformation.
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Scripture
Luke 13:20-21
And again he said, “To what shall I compare the kingdom of God? It is like leaven that a woman took and hid in three measures of flour, until it was all leavened.”
Observation
Throughout scripture leaven (yeast) is used as a symbol of corruption, unholiness, and sin. When holiness was required…leaven was forbidden. When food was prepared for a sacred feast…leaven was not allowed. The pervasive nature of yeast seems to be a great analogy for the way that sin will invade and multiply in our lives.
But in this passage, Jesus flips that analogy on it’s head by using leaven not to describe sin, but to describe the kingdom of God! How could the kingdom of God be in any way compared to the same thing used to describe sin?!
Jesus understood something that we often miss about the Kingdom: God’s kingdom is the kingdom of life. Living faith, in the living God, will always multiply and grow. The natural result of an encounter with the Kingdom of God, is permanent transformation.
Application
I want to see God’s power at work in my life this way! I want His word to transform me and shape me into something new, and I want my life to be used by God to multiply His kingdom and impact others. This can’t happen with a dead, shelf-stable, ‘saltine cracker’ kind of faith–it requires living, active, vibrant faith in the living God. When I allow God’s word to grow in me and His spirit to guide me day by day, the result will be complete transformation of my heart–and that kind of relationship with God can’t be contained or limited. It will naturally overflow outward, to impact those around me as well.
This week, I need to take a look at God’s spirit at work in me: Is it causing growth and multiplication as God intended? Or am I allowing anything in my life to inhibit the natural growth of the kingdom?
Prayer
God, thank you for the life that you bring! Thank you for the work of your spirit in me, bringing growth and transformation! Help me to daily allow your kingdom to grow in and through me, and never inhibit the work of your spirit. May my life carry the transformative power of your spirit into every situation and every conversation that I encounter this week.
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