How to Get Rid of Leaven

We can help put out the spiritual leaven—sin—by putting in the words of Christ. Why not take some time to read the Gospels?

The last couple had left, and I found myself gazing around the kitchen, pleased with the way dinner had gone and very thankful for the blessing of the 16 wonderful brethren who had made the evening so enjoyable.

We had just finished with the evening we call the Night to Be Much Observed (based on Exodus 12:42, King James Version), the first night of the Feast of Unleavened Bread. It’s a wonderful time to reflect on and to remember why we were keeping this feast, as we had just pictured the death of Jesus Christ by partaking of the New Testament Passover the evening before. Because of His sacrifice, we were now unleavened!

Can we find leaven in ourselves?

How many Church of God members have celebrated the Feast of Unleavened Bread and found physical leavening in our homes during or after the feast days? I think we probably all have. Sometimes it is easy to overlook some of the leavening in our homes, even when we are diligent! It is also easy to overlook the spiritual leaven—sin—in our lives, even when we diligently look for it. Sometimes others have to point out our sins to us and, humanly speaking, we don’t like that!

We are still human

No matter how many years we have been members of the Body of Christ, we are still human. We have to continue to fight a spiritual battle and guard against allowing spiritual leaven to come into our hearts and minds. It is so easy to let a little leaven creep in without realizing it. Recently I wrote an article for our local congregation’s website http://tn-cogwa.org/on “What Is Stubbornness?” How many of us still have that bit of leavening in us and don’t recognize it?

Just like a little bit of yeast spreads and makes a large loaf of bread, so a little thought or action can grow and spread and make us spiritually leavened. Paul told the Corinthians in 1 Corinthians 5:6: “Your glorying is not good. Do you not know that a little leaven leavens the whole lump?”

Jesus Christ, the unleavened bread of sincerity and truth!

These particular feast days are among the most important days in our lives. We put out the physical leavening in our homes to help us remember to put out the spiritual leavening in our lives. Not only are we commanded to work on putting out the spiritual leavening, but we are also commanded to eat of the unleavened bread of sincerity and truth! “Therefore let us keep the feast, not with old leaven, nor with the leaven of malice and wickedness, but with the unleavened bread of sincerity and truth” (1 Corinthians 5:8).

Jesus Christ is that unleavened bread of sincerity and truth that we should be eating every day!

He said, “I am the living bread which came down from heaven. If anyone eats of this bread, he will live forever; and the bread that I shall give is My flesh, which I shall give for the life of the world” (John 6:51).

Eating the words of Christ helps us get rid of the spiritual leaven

These days are a good time to read the words of Jesus, which are found in the four Gospels of Matthew, Mark, Luke and John. How much faith in Him can we build and how much more can we become like Him if we study His words each day? It will take time and effort to completely read all four books, but it is a noble challenge.

How much leaven will we weed out of our lives by putting Christ into our lives through reading and drinking in of His words during these days? When liquid is poured into a bottle, air is pushed out. When we put Jesus Christ into our minds, we push the leaven of sin out! This is how we get rid of leaven!

Judy is the wife of a retired pastor. She and her husband of almost 50 years, Bill, reside in East Bernstadt, Kentucky. She is a mother of four, grandmother of 10 and a great-grandmother. She loves to read and write and is a freelance writer for Examiner.com and also writes for the TN COGWA website.