Do you ever wish that your church could make a bigger difference in your town or community? Or maybe that the worldwide church could make a greater impact? On a more personal level, perhaps you have prayed for transformation in your life, but you don’t feel as if much has changed.
The relative smallness of God’s people and God’s work is a repeating theme in the Bible. In the Old Testament, only a small group of people remain faithful to God—they’re called the remnant. Jesus picks up on that theme when he compares the kingdom of heaven to a mustard seed and to yeast.
Our text describes yeast being mixed into flour; some translations of the Bible describe the yeast as hidden in the flour. The idea is that when the yeast is mixed or hidden in the flour to make dough, no one can see it anymore. It’s so small that it seems to be gone!
But although the yeast is small, it has a large effect. Jesus describes someone mixing up about 60 pounds of flour—that would make a lot of dough! Can you picture how much bread would come from all that mixed flour? A transformation would take place as the yeast did its work, making the dough rise! What a difference a little yeast can make!
As Jesus says, the kingdom of heaven is like that. It may seem small, but it makes an amazing, transformative difference.
Lord, help us not to grow weary when transformation seems small. May we have eyes of faith to trust that you will bring about great results. Amen.
About the author — Gerrit Bomhof
Gerrit Bomhof immigrated as a young child with his family from the Netherlands to Vancouver Island, British Columbia, in 1954. He graduated from Trinity Christian College in 1972 and from Calvin Theological Seminary in 1976. He served as a pastor to five churches in Canada and retired in June 2017.
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