Can you identify which foods below contain yeast?
Passover and Easter may have passed, but there is one element common to them both that affects us daily. Do you know what it is? Leaven! Which leaven do we automatically think of? Yeast!
WHICH FOUR?
Of the products above, four contain yeast as leaven. Which did you guess? If you chose pretzels, graham crackers or chow mein noodles you would be correct! What about soup? Not every brand is the same, but this soup contains yeast. Go figure.
That leaves tortillas and Cheerios without yeast! Of course, all cereals and tortillas are not created equal so, if you are avoiding leaven such as yeast, read the labels. Did you guess correctly?
At Easter leavening is used to create many traditional specialties like the United Kingdom’s hot cross buns. However, at Passover all leaven is removed from Jewish homes and diets.
Prior to the festival of Passover, Jews around the world clean their homes. I don’t mean the usual dusting and washing. I mean removing all the leaven. They search throughout the house looking for hidden crumbs to be swept up and thrown away.
Once Passover begins, they refrain from eating it for seven days.
Seven days you shall eat unleavened bread.
On the first day you shall remove leaven from your houses,
Exodus 12:15
Why?
At the time of the Israelites exodus from Egypt, their hasty departure left insufficient time for their dough to rise resulting in flat, unleavened cakes. In obedience to the Lord removing yeast commemorates how He saved them from the bondage of slavery in Egypt to bring them into the promised land.
Does that sound similar to Easter?
At Easter we remember that Jesus was crucified, died and rose from the grave to save us from the bondage of sin and bring us to promised eternal life with Him. Besides hot cross buns, where is the leaven in Easter? To answer that, let’s define leaven.
WHAT IS LEAVEN?
Vocabulary.com defines it as;
“That which causes transformation – anything that changes the nature of something else.”
Leaven symbolically represents sin in the scriptures. Doesn’t sin change our nature causing a negative transformation? Isn’t transformation part of the Easter story? Because of Jesus’ sacrifice, our lives can be transformed positively as we repent and sweep the leaven of sin away.
Sin is not always what we expect. Like leaven may be hidden in cereals and soups, sin may be hidden in our hearts as well.
SO, WHAT IS SIN?
I used to think it was mainly the 10 commandments. I felt that if I broke one of the top 10, God would pound me on the head. Oh, there were a few other things I considered sin like pride and unforgiveness. However, that was about it.
Well, when I found out more about sin,
I found a lot hidden in my heart.
The scripture identifies sin as anything that misses the mark of godly living. So, basically acts, words or even thoughts that go against God’s will are sins. That encompasses a lot, doesn’t it?
Don’t’ worry, God gave us help so we could hit the mark.
HIT THE MARK!
The more we read and study God’s Word, the deeper our understanding of how to live a godly life. His Word helps us identify the leaven, sweep it from our hearts and hit the mark.
He also gave us some labels for sin, (Exodus 20:1-17, Galatians 5:19-20, Proverbs 6:16-19,1 Corinthians 6:9-10), as well as some for hitting the mark of godly living such as the fruit of the Spirit.
Reading the labels like on a soup can is not enough. It takes faith to sweep away the leaven and hit the mark. By faith we ask Jesus to help us. Then as we draw closer to Jesus, the Holy Spirit empowers us to hit the mark to act in the fruit of the Spirit.
But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace,
patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness,
Galatians 5:22 ESV
LOVE
“You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart,
with all your soul, and with all your mind.
You shall love your neighbor as yourself,”
Matthew 22:37, 39b
JOY
Rejoice in the Lord always,
Philippians 4:4a
PEACE & GOODNESS
Depart from evil and do good;
Seek peace and pursue it,
Psalm 34:14
KINDNESS
And be kind to one another, tenderhearted,
forgiving one another, even as God in Christ forgave you,
Ephesians 4:32
PATIENCE
Be completely humble and gentle;
be patient, bearing with one another in love,
Ephesians 4:2 NIV
FAITHFUL
For we walk by faith, not by sight,
2 Corinthians 5:7
WHAT IF I MISS THE MARK?
Don’t worry, God knows that we are all imperfect and will all miss the mark. God in His great love for us does not want to pound us on the head. He wants to convict us so that we can turn to Him, repent and live an abundant life full of the fruit of His Holy Spirit.
We can have faith that Jesus will forgive us when we repent.
If we confess our sins,
He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins
and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness,
1 John 1:9
REFLECTION
Is leaven hidden in your heart?
PRAYER
Heavenly Father, as I write 1 John 1:9 and say it aloud, show me any hidden leaven in my heart. Forgive me and help me to sweep it out of my life. Strengthen my faith with the courage and desire to draw closer to You so I hit the mark. In Jesus name, Amen.
JESUS REMOVES OUR LEAVEN
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Photo bullseyes, 3345557
Photo buns, Jasmine Waheed-
Photo targets, Giovanna
