Years ago I developed a taste for plain yogurt for breakfast. I mix things with it, but like the taste and the fact that it’s not loaded with added sugar. Since Carrie figured out how to make it from milk and starter yogurt in a crock pot, we’ve been making our own. All it takes is those two ingredients and the right conditions. The milk heats to at least 170 degrees over a four-hour period, then cools naturally to precisely 110-120 degrees. To that we stir in the live, active yogurt culture, then wrap it in towels and leave it undisturbed overnight. That’s when the magic happens! In the morning we have a big batch of yogurt to drain and store in the fridge!
In a sense we use yogurt to reproduce more yogurt. And that brings to mind how the Christian life starts with Jesus in us and results in our manifesting Him to the world. As with the yogurt, two ingredients stand out in the recipe for Christlikeness in the believer: the Word of God and the Holy Spirit.
The apostle Peter encourages us to desire the pure milk of the Word that ye might grow thereby (1 Peter 2:2). And just like the yogurt culture in the recipe above, God’s Word is living and active, possessing tremendous power (Hebrews 4:12). God says His Word will not return to me empty, but will accomplish what I desire and achieve the purpose for which I sent it. He describes it as fire, and like a hammer that shatters rock (Isaiah 55:11, Jeremiah 23:29). The apostle Paul writes that God’s Word performs its work in us as we believe (1 Thessalonians 2:13).
One of the functions of the Holy Spirit is to guide us into all truth. God’s Word is truth (John 17:17). The Holy Spirit and the Word work together to reproduce Jesus in us. Jesus said the Holy Spirit would teach us all things and remind us of everything He said (John 14:26). As we yield, the Holy Spirit empowers us to manifest Jesus and be His witnesses throughout the earth (Acts 1:8). Thus, the Holy Spirit transforms us to look more and more like Him with ever-increasing glory (2 Corinthians 3:18).
Producing a good batch of yogurt requires not only the right ingredients but also the right environment. Without the correct temperature, the transformation is compromised. And lukewarm hearts won’t produce desired results either (Revelation 3:16). The soil of our hearts needs to be in the right condition for the seed (God’s Word) to be fruitful. If we neglect time with God or give the enemy access, the Word will never take root in us. If we allow worry and the pursuit of money and things to dominate, we undermine our transformation process (Mark 4).
Instead, let’s guard and prepare our hearts, study the Word, and yield to the Holy Spirit. Doing so, we’ll look more like Jesus every day, and we’ll become a pleasing aroma in this world! (Proverbs 4:23, 2 Corinthians 2:14-15)
Wow, JB! I will never look at (or eat) yogurt the same way again in my life!! Such a creative analogy – especially about the affects of both what’s IN us and what is AROUND us. Thank you. 🙂