I still remember the first time I tasted coffee. I was a scrawny kid freezing at a football game and my older sister compassionately shared her java with me. That sip, however, was some of the bitterest stuff I’d ever tasted, and it was many years before I tried it again. In fact, it wasn’t until I was in my mid-thirties that I retested this magnificent beverage. Since then, I’ve made up for lost time and now look forward to this blessed liquid every morning.
As I enjoy my starter fluid in a carefully selected mug from our eclectic collection, I’ve often thought about how simple and basic coffee is. Ordinary clear water is completely transformed as it percolates through the grounds and comes out rich, dark, and fully flavored. Although it’s still the same water that went in, it has been significantly altered by the experience. Not only does it look different, but its brief time in the filter basket has changed the way it smells and tastes and it will now affect our bodies in ways it could not have before.
Simple percolation changes a virtually free cup of tap water into a $3.00 morning delight. It’s still the same water, yet very different because of its exposure to the fragments of brown beans grown on some faraway hillside.
This process of change is very much like our thoughts when we pass them through God’s Word. Our minds generate a steady stream of these each day. Most are average run-of-the-mill ideas that aren’t worth much by themselves and many will cause negative results if we carry them out immediately.
When we pass them through the Word of God, however, and they come in contact with His powerful truth, they become richer and fuller and can change the world around us in positive ways. Sometimes the initial experience is difficult as we resist God’s modifications, but eventually, we cherish the acquired taste of His blessed presence and begin to crave Him.
Like coffee, the more time we spend in God’s Word, the greater the impact it will have on us. Daily devotions give us that opportunity to sit in God’s filter and allow our thoughts, emotions, dreams, ambitions, hurts, and desires to all percolate through the Scripture. As they do so, they are radically transformed into something that looks, smells, and tastes much better than before and they then, like coffee, can affect change in those with whom we interact!
Additionally, through prayer, we submit our minds to God’s transforming presence with the Holy Spirit’s influence, He can brew a cup of delight that puts a smile on His face and joy in our hearts.
In Psalm 34:8, David invites us to, “Taste and see that the Lord is good.” Even if you’ve had a bad experience in the past, submit your dreams, desires, and ambitions to the transformative power of God’s Word and allow Him to produce what He desires in you today.
George Bowers – CBC Exec. Board
