Yes, this is a “crumby story” in both a symbolic and a literal way, and one that relates to the Easter season we are in.
The Bible contains many examples of God using physical symbols to represent spiritual concepts. At the Last Supper before he was crucified, Jesus used wine to represent his blood and bread to represent his body. He said to use these symbols to commemorate the sacrifice to be made that covers the penalty for all mankind’s sins.
Long before Jesus was born, God chose to use leavening as a symbol of sin when He instructed Israel to keep the Days of Unleavened Bread. As you may know leavening agents, like yeast and baking soda, are what cause bread, cookie dough, and other yummy things to rise. Leaven “puffs up” its host, somewhat akin to our own human pride affects how we deal with sin.
So for a week every year, Israel was commanded not to eat anything leavened and to clean out their dwellings from anything that contained it… every last crumb.
Put yourself in their place, how difficult a task would that be if God expected that from you today? For years I was in a church that honored that tradition and I sure got a good taste of what tracking down every leavened crumb was all about. Whew! Leaven hides everywhere in the food we eat; in the crevasses of the homes we live in. It clings to things… just open up your toaster. Yikes!
The lesson is evident. Just like leavened crumbs that infiltrate where we live… sin infiltrates our lives. And until we purpose to seek it out, it may reside with us a lifetime. If we ask God to help open our eyes to see sin, and for HIs help to deal with it, we can move a step closer to living a more enriched life.
He made us. He knows what’s good for us and what isn’t. You wouldn’t pour soy sauce in your gas tank because you know it would be a very dumb thing to do. He wants to put the right stuff in you. Our problem is we are deceived in many ways by what seems right in our own eyes. Unless we are proactive in perusing truth and living it in it, change may come very slowly.
While God is patient with us and grants us grace by the sacrifice of Jesus, I would suggest as a follower of Christ we should be more purposeful in getting the crumbs out of our life.
Are with you with me? Good. Now, let’s eat a cookie!
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