For all of you non-coffee drinkers, don’t tune me out quite yet. I’m going to lead us all to the same place at the end of this whether you enjoy this particular caffeinated beverage or not, so just indulge me and hang in there with me for a few minutes. Coffee is one of my favorite things. For me, it ranks up there with things like pedicures, sleeping in, and best friends. It’s one of my first thoughts in the morning. I have a tendency to drink it throughout the day (I know, I know…), and I occasionally enjoy a cup before I go to bed. Call it my vice if you must. I often refer to it as my drug of choice. Thank God it’s legal, amen?!
One of the things I love most about coffee is that there are so many ways to enjoy it. You know this is true if you’ve ever taken one step into a Starbucks. The menu is quite overwhelming if you’re not used to it. There are lattes, cappuccinos, mochas, espresso, and the list goes on and on. I used to love all the sugary, specialty drinks, but I’ve found as I’ve gotten older that my taste in coffee has mellowed out a bit. Just this past year, I started drinking it black! (Gasp!) So, how do you take your coffee?
Before you think I’ve gone off the deep end and decided to change the content of my blog from devotional material to food and beverage, take a deep breath and let out a sigh of relief. I haven’t. It’s just that I started thinking about something significant this morning over my own cup of coffee, and I had to share it with you all.
We live in a fast-paced, fast food kind of world, where we get what we want, how we want it, and when we want it if the price is right. We have the ability to pick and choose whatever suits our pallet best, and we think little to nothing about it. That’s just the way of our world. And there’s no shame in that. What arrested my thoughts this morning, though, is how I’ve seen this mentality bleed over into our spiritual lives, even more specifically, into my own life.
“For the word of the Lord is upright, and all his work is done in faithfulness.” Psalm 33:4
Perhaps we’ve established such patterns in our lives of “your way, right away”, that we don’t even think twice anymore of how we are applying that same logic to our relationships with God. While we possess every right to order our coffee however we like it, we do not have that same right when we approach God’s Word. Still, I believe that many live as if they do. The problem with this thinking is that it assumes that we have the right to inform God’s infallible and unchanging Word. But we don’t. God’s Word is not a buffet, something from which we can pick and choose. The entirety of His Word is true, relevant, effective, and He has not left any part of it up for debate.
“The grass withers, the flower fades, but the word of our God will stand forever.” Isaiah 40:8
We can’t approach the Bible as we would a Starbucks drive-thru, selecting the parts of it that taste best to us while leaving the rest behind. Some of it might not sit too well with us, but those parts aren’t any less true or good.
“This God—his way is perfect; the word of the Lord proves true; he is a shield for all those who take refuge in him.” Psalm 18:30
Can I encourage you today in this? God wrote a book, and it is His love letter to us. When we choose to expose ourselves to its truth, we find the heart of Christ. Dig deep today, my friends. Grab your cup of coffee, however you like it, and run the unchanging, everlasting truth of His Word, the light that will illuminate your path.
“Oh, taste and see that the Lord is good! Blessed is the man who takes refuge in him!” Psalm 34:8
Cherie, awesome post! I love how you worked in the coffee angle…makes it extra-delicious! I find this post relevant to what I was reading this very morning. Philippians 2:3-4 – “Do nothing out of selfish ambition or vain conceit, but in humility consider others better than yourselves. Each of you should look not only to your own interests, but also to the interests of others”. Many times I have read these verses and many times I have tended to skip over them thinking “I am not THAT vain or selfish” but I don’t stop to truly considering the challenge – and direct instruction – that they pose. If I am to be a follower of Christ I must take this instruction seriously and look at the areas in my life where I so often put myself first and think that is where I belong. It’s a lot more places than I care to admit, but since this is a safe place for us to share and grow, I confess it freely and am asking God to help me change that. Thank you for the encouragement for us to remember how to approach God’s word.
I love those verses from Philippians 2, Ginny! They are a constant reminder to me of humility. Thank you for sharing, friend!