Every spring in ancient Israel, God instructed the people to hold a harvest festival in which they ate unleavened bread. It was an annual reminder that their predecessors ate unleavened bread the night they fled Egypt, not having time to let their dough rise. Much later, the Apostle Paul, while writing about this festival, compares leavening to sin in the Christian life. He confirms that we also are to observe the Festival of Unleavened Bread—not only eating unleavened bread but also to become unleavened in our hearts, to strive for a sin-free life, as we strive to follow the example Jesus set for us.