The mechanism of how yeast works marvel me. Yeast is one of the essential ingredients in bread making that makes a whole lot of difference. Unless making unleavened bread, bread without yeast comes out thick and very difficult to eat. With yeast, your bread comes out spongy, soft and, beautiful.

YEAST IN SCRIPTURE

In the Bible, yeast is usually portrayed as a sin or bad influence of a Holy substance. Jesus occasionally spoke of leaven of the Pharisees or Herodias as something to avoid (Mark 8:15; Luke 12:1). All to portray the negative implication of yeast in scriptures.

But on one occasion, Jesus made a similarity between yeast and the Kingdom of Heaven. He said,

“Whereunto shall I liken the kingdom of God? It is like leaven, which a woman took and hid in three measures of meal, till the whole was leavened.” Luke 13:20-21 KJV

Jesus was comparing how the Kingdom of God spreads to that of yeast. In His typical way, He was using a natural thing to explain the supernatural.

Usually, you do not need much yeast per kilogram of flour. On the average, you will need 5g (1 teaspoon) of yeast per 500g (2 cups) of flour. This small pinch of the ingredient works slowly through a lump of dough affecting its taste, texture, and overall outcome of the bread.

Jesus portrayed that the beginning of the Kingdom of God, though apparently insignificant, does not remain insignificant in the earth. Instead, it will begin to quickly spread throughout the earth changing its flavor and its texture.

Yeast works by rapidly changing sugars in food into alcohol and carbon dioxide. It does not stop until it has gone through the whole lump. Similarly, the Kingdom of God, though initiated by a few men, has gone through and is going through the entire earth.

The Kingdom of God has completely changed the very substance of the heart of men.

Another characteristic of yeast that bears looking at is its specific requirement for heat. Yeast rises best in a warm toasty area. It does not work or at best rises little in cold environments. In this way also, it is as the Church in two ways.

Firstly, throughout Church history, it is a known fact that the church multiplies rapidly under heat. i.e. under persecution. In the book of Acts, the gospel began to spread outside of Jerusalem.

This was not by the initiative of the disciples but as a result of persecution. As they dispersed, they spread the gospel wherever they went.

Secondly, I would like to see the heat as depicting the passion for the Lord. When a believer is passionate, he is said to be on fire. Believers are able to evangelize and disciple new members into the church as a result of the passion and zeal they have for the work of the Lord.

A passionate Church is a smooth vehicle for the agenda of the Kingdom to be established. However, when the church grows cold and dormant, nothing happens and no effect occurs

For many years now, the Church has not really manifested this element of influence in the society. The Church, made up of all believers, including you and I, have lived in a cold environment and thus have been ineffective in influencing our world. We need to pick up ourselves urgently.

The question is that how do we begin to influence our world?

BECOMING YEAST

First, you must walk with the consciousness of being yeast. You must understand the concept of the Kingdom of God influencing the system of the world. Also, understand that you are the representative of the Kingdom in your sphere of influence. Armed with this consciousness, you begin to live as yeast.

What I mean is this: you begin to live according to your nature. The nature of a believer is according to the nature of God (Ephesians 4:24) after holiness and righteousness. You may find yourself living and making decisions that are contrary to what everyone is doing.

For example, if you find yourself working in a company where the workers sneak products home, being yeast could mean refusing to steal from the company. Initially, you will face lots of opposition and maltreatment due to your integrity but with time the people around you will begin to be convicted by your stance. This will give you the opportunity to minister to them the gospel.

In addition, you need to stand as yeast; what this means is to keep up your conviction. Many of us begin with strong convictions about certain issues. But with time, due to association and wrong information, we begin to lose these convictions. In losing our

conviction lies the loss of our influence. In this situation, we become like everyone else being influenced instead of influencing.

Dear friend, do not give up on what you hold true. Do not allow the Godly nature to overcome by the world. You are to influence the folks in your classroom, workplace, and community with the values of the Kingdom of God.

Be the yeast!