Mmmm….coffee! If I’m honest, it’s one of the main reasons I get out of bed in the morning.
Here’s a brief history of this favorite beverage: According to the National Coffee Association (NCAUSA.org), an Ethiopian goat herder named Kaldi discovered coffee after noticing that his goats became so energetic that they did not want to sleep at night after eating berries from a certain tree. Kaldi told the abbot at the local monastery who then made a drink with the berries and discovered that it kept him alert for the long hours of evening prayer.
Fast forward to 17th century Europe where the novel beverage became known as the “bitter invention of Satan”, condemned by local clergy. The controversy was so great that Pope Clement VIII was asked to intervene. He tasted and gave his approval. Soon after, coffee began to replace the common breakfast drinks of the time—beer and wine. Coffee later became popular in the New World after the heavy tax on tea led to the so-called Boston Tea Party when New England rebels tossed a shipload of tea into Boston Harbor. Today, coffee is the second most sought after commodity in the world, next to crude oil!
As I looked deeper into the story of coffee it struck me that there are similarities between coffee and our Christian walk (more than the fact that we usually drink our morning cup of coffee while reading the Bible).
Coffee beans must be ground to be usable. We, too, must be “ground.”
Coffee in its natural form is a whole bean. Each bean can be separately examined. But in order for coffee to be made drinkable, beans must go through a process where they are ground together so that an individual bean can no longer be identified.
In the same way, for our lives to become useful to God, we must first be ground together with Christ by our salvation through Him. Colossians 3:3 says “…ye are dead, and your life is hid with Christ in God.” We become so one with Christ that Paul is bold to declare that he is alive by the life of Christ within him! (Galatians 2:20)
After salvation, we are ground into the hearts and lives of other believers. We focus not on ourselves, but on our fellow Christians. Galatians 6:2 tells us to “Bear ye one another’s burdens, and so fulfill the law of Christ.” When we are truly ground up, the whole body is “fitly joined together…” (Ephesians 4:16)
Coffee must be brewed with hot (195-205 degrees) water. But not too hot, or it will affect the flavor!
Our witness is often affected by how difficult (or hot) our circumstances are. We learn from the book of Acts that the Gospel spread through persecution. After Stephen was stoned to death, the believers were “scattered abroad [and] went everywhere preaching the Word.” (Acts 8:4).
But, the hot water of circumstances can’t be too hot—there is a recurring concept in the Bible that God will not allow something to come into our lives that we are unable to handle with His help (I Corinthian. 10:13). He knows our path (Psalm 142:3, Job 23:10) and promises to be with us always (Hebrews 13:5b).
Coffee should be brewed fresh each time. Don’t reheat old coffee and never reuse coffee grounds.
Start fresh each day with the Lord. Don’t try to reuse yesterday’s blessing—every day needs a fresh brew! David said, “My voice shalt thou hear in the morning, O LORD; in the morning will I direct [my prayer] unto thee, and will look up.” (Psalm 5:3). Jesus Christ did the same: “And in the morning, rising up a great while before day, he went out, and departed into a solitary place, and there prayed.” (Mark 1:35).
And here is a promise from the book of Proverbs: “I love them that love me; and those that seek me early shall find me.” (8:17)
So, what are you doing for God today? Scripture exhorts us to keep reaching higher.
Isaiah 43:18: “Remember ye not the former things, neither consider the things of old.”
Philippians 3:13: “Brethren, I count not myself to have apprehended: but this one thing I do, forgetting those things which are behind, and reaching forth unto those things which are before, I press towards the mark for the prize of the high calling of God in Christ Jesus.”