4.6 Complete Transformation

Again, let’s look at the parable of the leaven. Matthew 13:33 He spoke another parable to them, "The kingdom of heaven is like leaven, which a woman took and hid in three pecks of flour until it was all leavened."

Jesus explained that God’s Kingdom is like leaven. By itself, leaven is inert. But when added to flour, it comes to life.

The woman kneaded the leaven into three large batches of flour, and in so doing, started a chain reaction that would completely transform the dough.

Leaven actually changes the nature of the dough. It affects every part. It permeates the dough and brings it all to life.

Jesus used the analogy of leaven to illustrate both good and evil – because leaven radically changes the nature of the dough. So when God kneads His grace into our hearts and the hearts of His children, our whole being is affected. On the other hand, if we allow sin to run rampant in our lives, it affects our whole being as well.

Even a young child can look at a batch of leavened and a batch of unleavened dough and tell which one has leaven. So too, people can look at our lives and see whether we’ve been transformed by the reign and rule of God in our hearts, or whether we’ve resisted and remain unchanged.

Prayer prompts and discussion starters:

• Ask the Lord to do a continual work of transformation in your heart and life.
  Ask the Lord to make you sensitive to the work of the Holy Spirit in transforming your life.
• Ask Him to transform your community of faith by His life-changing power.
• Pray that others will see God’s children and be drawn to the transforming power of love they see in His children.
• Ask the Lord to give you a passion for those who have not yet been transformed by His grace and love.
• Plead with the Lord to make you aware of those who need His transforming power.