Day 23

Genesis 45:1-47:12
Matthew 16:1-20
Psalm 14:1-7

From the tiniest of seeds comes the massive mustard tree (a parable that we heard a few days ago). From the tiniest spark can come the biggest fire. And today we see a few things that start of small end up huge.

If we start in the Gospel Jesus is talking about the yeast of the Pharisees. The disciples, being a bit slow, think Jesus is having a dig about then forgetting bread earlier but he is talking about false teaching. The thing about yeast is that a little bit goes a long way. In comparison to the other ingredients in the bread, just a small amount of yeast gets the bread to raise. Jesus was warning them that just a small amount of duff teaching could lead the disciples down the wrong track. Just as it can lead us down the wrong path, from people telling us stuff that goes against the Bible or even friends encouraging us to do things that we know we shouldn’t. Whatever it is we need to beware of the yeast of the Pharisees, because even the smallest things can get between us and God.

In the Old Testament we see a similar thing. The smallest hug between Joseph and his brothers saw things tumbling beyond imagination. Yesterday, just seeing his brothers made Joseph weep uncontrollably, the emotion flowed out from him. From this small first meeting came a massive journey for a very old man, came a new home for the family, and brought an entire nation to Egypt from where one day they would have to run like the wind in Exodus. From one small hug came so much more!

We should never underestimate the power of what God can do in our lives. Even the small things that He might be doing right now can lead to much bigger things, we just have “to let go and let God” as they saying goes.