When baking bread, leaven is used to make the bread dough rise and expand. The dough grows larger and larger. Jesus used leaven to illustrate the power and growth of the kingdom of heaven.
“He told them another parable. ‘The kingdom of heaven is like leaven that a woman took and hid in three measures of flour, till it was all leavened'” (Matthew 13:33).
Jesus tells us that the kingdom of God would have a great impact on the world. It would grow. It would spread. And indeed it did. The Gospel of Christ spread throughout the entire world. And we are rejoicing in His kingdom today. It has all come about by God’s power. By God’s design. By His will.
I’d like to borrow the illustration of leaven and look at another application. Are we letting the will of God permeate in our lives? Are we leavening our lives by the Word of God? We are to let the Word of Christ dwell in us richly. It is meant to transform us into what God wants us to be. Are we? Are we letting God have the eternal impact on our hearts and lives that will save our souls? We are to thrive on the spiritual leaven God gives us through Jesus, His Spirit, His power and love, and His Word. Be leavened with righteousness.
A Cord of Blue 