It's a very small, silly concept. I was sitting in a very cool, hip coffee bar with my pretty cup of coffee and my Bible. It's how I find myself most Tuesdays and Thursdays before work Uptown in New Orleans. I want you to picture it because I want you to visualize my moment. I'm dressed nice for an office job sitting down to some breakfast and coffee. Sometimes I pull out my Bible and spend some time with the Lord, other times I scroll through social media. Sometimes I'm just trying to wake up. I drink my coffee praying for the caffeine to take effect. I park my car on a side street, grab my bag and walk the street to work. In my dramatic mind, it's a very cute, movie moment I've created.
But as I sat down this past Tuesday I sipped my coffee as I pulled out my Bible. I kind of just stared at the two next to each other, overcome with silent whispers.
Which one was I really desiring more?
Which one was I allowing control?
Which one was I putting more faith in to get me through the day?
Which one did I believe I needed more than anything?
Sometimes, I choose coffee over Christ.
It's silly, I know. But stay with me here. I drink A LOT of coffee. I don't even know if caffeine effects me anymore or if it's a mental thing. Maybe I've become immune because it's in my bloodstream now. I desire coffee in the morning. I believe I need coffee and it controls whether I'm awake in the next hour or not. I have faith that my second cup of coffee will get me through the rest of the day.
That morning I sat there, not even opening my Bible.
Am I desiring time with Christ?
Do I allow prayer to control my life?
Is my faith in Christ getting me through the day?
Do I know my need for Christ?
Do I want coffee or Christ?
Matthew 11:28-30(MSG)
“Are you tired? Worn out? Burned out on religion? Come to me. Get away with me and you’ll recover your life. I’ll show you how to take a real rest. Walk with me and work with me—watch how I do it. Learn the unforced rhythms of grace. I won’t lay anything heavy or ill-fitting on you. Keep company with me and you’ll learn to live freely and lightly.”
I want Christ. I want unforced rhythms of grace to guide my daily life. I need to recover my life because this world is exhausting. The hatred, the evil, the brokenness it all exhausts me. I want Christ to recover me each morning. I want to walk in His footsteps before me and have nothing weighing me down. I want to live life and live it freely. I want Christ.
Because coffee, coffee is a worldly thing. We Millennials love our coffee, so much we treat it like children posting pics all the time (#guilty). We're all Lorelai Gilmore asking for an IV of it. We believe we NEED it. Three cups a day wasn't giving me life. Caffeine doesn't revive a broken heart. Coffee won't satisfy hunger. Creamer doesn't sweeten a bitter attitude. Pretty foamy designs don't cover up what's underneath. Maybe coffee isn't the thing you've come to believe you "need" but friends, we all have something...it's the draw of the temporary over the eternal.
I NEED Christ. Because Christ recovers. Christ gives rest. Christ offers a rhythm to follow, footsteps to walk in, a place to sit down, burden to release, a live to life free of sin. I don't want coffee over Christ. Three cups a day and you're always left at the bottom of an empty cup, BUT GOD has me overflowing with blessings. My cup runneth over.
