Whether or not we realize it, we become like those we hang around. It’s true spiritually and it’s true with yogurt!
A few years ago I started making yogurt. People have done this for generations, but I’d never been taught. After reading various recipes and tips (and drumming up enough gumption), I finally tried my first batch.
The recipe (more like a chemistry experiment) told me to fill my crock pot most of the way with milk, put on the lid, and heat it for three hours. Then I took the milk’s temperature, unplugged the crock pot and waited three more hours. Finally I checked the temperature one last time, stirred in a little store-bought yogurt, wrapped the crock pot with beach towels and went to bed.
The next morning, to my utter amazement, I found a crock pot full of yogurt! The culture from the store caused my milk to ferment as the milk’s lactose turned into lactic acid. This caused the milk to thicken and become tart. And after a number of hours there was no way to differentiate the original starter yogurt from the milk. It was ALL yogurt!
That’s good news if you eat as much yogurt as we do. Just let the milk hang out with the yogurt and voila! A creamy, tasty, nutritious treat.
However, unless the milk’s temperature is between 108 degrees and 113 degrees when adding the starter culture, the result will be a batch of lackluster, semi-solid, even grainy, sour soup!
And our hearts, like that milk, need to be in the right condition to produce anything worthwhile.
Jesus used a similar analogy in the Parable of the Sower (Mark 4). He told of a man scattering seeds over four types of soil. The first ground was so hard that birds swooped down and ate the bare seeds. The second contained so many rocks that the sprouted seeds could not grow deep roots, and withered in the harsh sun. The third was crowded with thorn bushes that choked out the seedlings as they grew. But the fourth soil was soft, unobstructed, and ready to nourish the seeds. It produced a great crop.
So how can we yield a great batch of godly yogurt?- Plow the soil of our hearts, softening up those areas where we’ve grown heavy, cold, hard, and dry. (We’re heating up the milk.)
- Next we cultivate our hearts. We uproot and toss out detractors like bitterness, jealousy, unforgiveness, anger, getting rid of those rocks and weeds so the soil can settle. (We’re letting the milk cool to just the right temperature.)
- Finally we add the seed of God’s Word by reading it, listening to those who teach it, and believing it. (Now we’re adding the starter culture.)
- The longer we simply rest in the warmth of God’s love and allow the seeds of His Word to grow in our hearts, the more we’ll start to look just like Jesus, producing good fruit. (And the milk of our hearts has transformed into yogurt, food worth sharing.)
