From Poisons to Cures

Matthew 13:33 (NIV)

He told them still another parable: “The kingdom of heaven is like yeast that a woman took and mixed into about sixty pounds of flour until it worked all through the dough.”

Recently I read that many poisonous substances can be used as cures. Cures are being developed as we speak based on these toxins. Take for example a viper’s venom, deadly to anyone. But it can be part of a potent anti-clotting medicine that helps blood keep on flowing instead of clumping up.

The tetrodotoxin of a puffer fish is deadly, causing fatal paralysis of the heart and the lungs. Still this toxin can also treat chronic pain. It has been discovered that it is 3,000 times more powerful than morphine, and it doesn’t have the side-effects of addiction and nausea.

None of us rejoice when finding a tick, especially when in buries itself into our flesh. Recently it was discovered that the tick’s spit helps blood flow easily without any hindrances. A prospective medicine is on the way using tick saliva that is seventy times more powerful than the blood-thinning agent in human blood.

We too used to be quite poisonous, through our words, actions and thoughts. How many people have I hurt with the simple use of my tongue?

Still God did not give up on me. Like yeast that is so minute, so small that a single seed of it would be unnoticeable, once mingled into dough it raises the hard lump and turns it into a delicious meal. God’s yeast worked into me in the same way, and it transformed me from a self-centered individual to one that hungers to help out others.

Once God’s yeast reaches our hearts, it mixes into our souls and starts to grow and grow, leading us to complete freedom. Gone are the addictions. Alcoholics become sober. Drug addicts find freedom. Selfishness is morphed into wanting to help others. Strangely enough, once we experience God’s transforming power, we consider our pasts to be rubbish! We have found something better, something that brings meaning to our lives.

We have been transformed from poisonous to propitious, from selfish to loving others way more than ourselves. God, after all, is love, and once His love enters our lives, it will change us radically for the good of all people.

What would you prefer? To be a deadly puffer fish that rules its surroundings? Or to be filled with love from above? The choice is yours.

Dear Lord, we pray that we would be filled with Your love and not the deadly poison that tries to rule everything around it. In Jesus’ Name, Amen.