“Jesus also said: The kingdom of heaven is like what happens when a woman mixes a little yeast into three big batches of flour. Finally, all the dough rises.” – Matthew 13:33 CEV
Ants are not the kind of thing we want to think about, especially ants as nasty as fire ants, but recently I read an interesting article on them. According to the article there are two kinds of fire ants. One kind has a single queen who runs the colony. All the other ants serve her and they will kill off any other queens. In the second kind of fire ant, they have multiple queens who share leadership of the colony. These two kinds of fire ants are genetically different.
The article was about an experiment researchers did with these two kinds of ants. They built a little fence to let them get to know each other without killing each other. After 24 hours they let the two kinds of ants mix. Not only did they get along but the ants who wouldn’t share leadership with any other queens started accepting multiple queens. And this happened even when the non-sharers outnumbered the sharers 10 to 1. It took just a small amount of sharers to change the whole social structure of the colony.
Jesus says God’s kingdom works the same way. A little yeast changes the whole batch of flour for the better. Just a few Christians who are sharers, prayers, believers, lovers, and carers can impact a whole community for the better. It may look like we are outnumbered 10 to 1, but it doesn’t take many people who whole heartedly live for Christ to have a big impact. So remember the fire ants…just a few can change everything.
May you make a difference in the world this week. (And may your picnics be without ants.)
Pastor Mark