Purge Out the Old Leaven
1 Corinthians 5:6-7 |Galatians 5:7, 9 | Psalm 139:23–24
1 Corinthians 5:6-7
“Your boasting is not good. Do you not know that a little leaven leavens the whole lump? Cleanse out the old leaven that you may be a new lump, as you really are unleavened. For Christ, our Passover lamb, has been sacrificed.”
Galatians 5:7, 9
“You were running well. Who hindered you from obeying the truth?”
“A little leaven leavens the whole lump.”
Psalm 139:23–24
“Search me, O God, and know my heart! Try me and know my thoughts! And see if there be any grievous way in me, and lead me in the way everlasting!”
When God commanded the Israelites to remove leaven from their houses, it was connected to what He had just brought them out of. Egypt was a place of slavery and bondage, but God redeemed His people and brought them out. The Feast of Unleavened Bread became a reminder of that freedom.
This can speak to us today too.
The old leaven can be the things we continue to allow in our lives that slowly affect our minds, bodies, and souls. It can be sexual immorality, unhealthy ideologies, cultural or traditional practices, or anything else that God is asking us to let go of.
The danger of old leaven is familiarity.
Sometimes we become so used to something being in our lives that we stop seeing it as a problem. We know it’s there, but we convince ourselves that it’s not affecting us. We may even look back and remember the pleasures of sin while forgetting the bondage and consequences that came with it.
But a little leaven does not stay little.
“A little leaven leavens the whole lump.”
What we allow to remain hidden can eventually spread into other parts of our lives. Something small that we refuse to surrender can slowly affect the way we think, the way we live, and even our relationship with God.
Purging out the old leaven isn’t just something we do once. It is something we have to continually do. Just because God brought us out of something doesn’t mean we should keep pieces of it around.
We have to ask ourselves, what am I still allowing in my life because it feels familiar?
Psalm 139 gives us the right posture. We have to come before God and allow Him to search us. There may be things in our hearts that we don’t even recognize anymore because we have become so comfortable with them.
Tonight, let’s be honest with God. Let Him search us, cleanse us, and reveal anything that needs to go. Not out of condemnation, but because He has called us into freedom.
God brought the Israelites out of Egypt. He didn’t bring them out so they could continue holding onto Egypt.
In the same way, God calls us out of sin so that we can walk freely with Him.
Reflection:
What is the “old leaven” in my life that I have allowed to stay because it feels familiar?
Prayer:
God, search me and know my heart. Reveal anything in me that is not pleasing to You. Help me not to become comfortable with the things You have called me out of. Give me the willingness to let go of anything that keeps me from fully walking in freedom with You. Cleanse me, renew me, and lead me in Your everlasting way.