Beware

Today we want to look at a little story of Jesus and his disciples.  They are in a boat just after Jesus has once again fed thousands of people with just a few loaves.

As He always does, Jesus notices what is going on and even knows what’s going on in their thinking. He asks his companions what they are discussing and then gets to the deeper issue.  He uses yeast to help Him make His point.

“Be careful,” Jesus warned them. “Watch out for the yeast of the Pharisees and that of Herod.”

Mark 8:15

Yeast was a little metaphor that was used to represent sin and wrong in Jesus’ time.  Jesus is warning his friends that just a little unbelief, just a little complaining, just a little believing the watered down ideas about who He is that others have to say, can infiltrate and mess up everything.

In fact, it’s not even discarding truth but just letting our hearts be hardened and not taking the time to see and understand what God is doing that leads to our ultimate destruction.  We need to ask God’s Spirit to keep us at attention to what God is actually doing in all our circumstances and what our actions are meant to be to complement His plan.

A little leaven that underscored human’s ability to think and reason has lead many to renounce the need and even existence of God. 

A focus on personal needs and pleasure has so corrupted the moral health of our society, the beauty of commitment in marriage and friendship, and a way of living for the common good of the community as a way to elevate our quality of life rather than diminish it.

This “what I want and what is my right” is breaking down more and more social and political order around the world.  We see evidence of it on the news every day.

Heavenly Father, Help us to be aware of defining life by our present circumstances rather than by Your promises and Your guiding principles for life. 

Forgive us for seeing all kinds of things that You’ve done down through history, even in our own lives, yet failing to allow our understanding of You and Your ways in our lives to be changed by it. 

Help us Lord.  We understand and we fail to understand.  Fill us again today with Your Holy Spirit so we understand more than we ever have before and rise up in faith as we never have until now and represent Your truth better than ever before so Your kingdom comes and Your will is done here on earth as it is in heaven.  Amen

When we eat a piece of bread today, let’s remember the yeast and heed Jesus’ warning to avoid even little things that could influence major areas of our thinking and believing.