I’m so excited that I found biblical grounds that my husband should be the one to make the coffee every morning. Hebrews. You know, “He brews?” And it’s a whole book. I figure that’s pretty solid biblical grounds, right? Wait. Did I really twice mention biblical “grounds” in the middle of a bunch of coffee talk? I may be over-caffeinating.
Okay, so no doubt I need to stay more alert in exactly how I read God’s Word. I need that extra-shot-of-espresso, high-caff kind of alert. It’s so very important not to get lazy.
When I do read it, I need to also stay alert to letting the Lord do the talking instead of trying to come up with my own message. Isn’t it weird how we can sometimes make God’s word say things it’s not really saying? We string things together that aren’t related, or we add a little meaning where it doesn’t belong. All too often we decide before we read it what we’d like it to say and then we snip and clip—like someone who snips letters of a magazine to put together a ransom note. Have you noticed that when someone reads a note that’s been pieced together that way, they have no idea what the original articles were about. Not even the magazine. I’m not sure anyone even gives the original message a thought.
The thing is, there are essential life-building truths we just can’t ignore if we want to live a vital, fruit-filled, wide-awake kind of life in Christ. The Bible is not just a collection of good stories a group of people brewed up. It’s not just a few randomly chosen letters. It’s God’s message to us. It’s his instruction book. And there is plenty of meaning right there in his word—right there in black and white—without having to work to try to squeeze out something else. There’s enough meaning there to last a lifetime. And enough meaning to completely change a lifetime.
Hebrews 4:12 tells us that “the word of God is living and active. Sharper than any double-edged sword, it penetrates even to dividing soul and spirit, joints and marrow; it judges the thoughts and attitudes of the heart.” Wow, there’s some high-powered life-fuel. And 2 Timothy 3:14-17 lists some of the amazing things Scripture does is in our lives. “But as for you, continue in what you have learned and have become convinced of, because you know those from whom you learned it, and how from infancy you have known the holy Scriptures, which are able to make you wise for salvation through faith in Christ Jesus. All Scripture is God-breathed and is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness, so that the man of God may be thoroughly equipped for every good work.”
Coffee may partially equip us for a morning. But God’s Word thoroughly equips us for every good work. His Word equips us for life!
I think I’ll be percolating on that truth for a long time.
Meanwhile, I finally figured out that I can program the coffee maker to make the coffee all by itself. Auto-brew. There’s no book in the Bible about it or anything like that, but it was still a pretty marvelous revelation. … Not that I would ever suggest we add anything to the Book of Revelation.
Rhonda Rhea / Contributing columnist