Coffee... and Jesus

When People say “All I need is Jesus… and coffee” or somesuch variation of that phrase, I often think “Yeah, Jesus and coffee are indeed similar to so many.”

Why? Because what we CONSUME we become ACCUSTOMED to.

For those of us who drink coffee everyday (I confess, with two kids including a newborn and a tendency to overwork.... on everything, this is me) we feel the void of coffee when we miss it for a day. If it’s been three days, we start with withdrawal. A week, it gets really rough... that is until the habit is kicked.

For those who don’t drink coffee, they don’t feel they need it. Having it a couple times a year is just fine at best, even uncomfortable at worst. It makes them feel jittery, uncomfortable, and they probably don’t like the taste that much. If anything they need to add a bunch of sweetener just to tolerate it.

And so to with Jesus. If faith is your default, you miss it if you don’t have it for a day and it starts to hurt by day three. But if you only engage it on occasion (perhaps a holiday, a wedding, a funeral) it will be uncomfortable and hard to swallow. You’ll likely need some sweetener until the taste of faith is almost indistinguishable from the sweetener you needed to add.

So try faith, not as an occasional indulgence, but as a habit. Really try it. Give it a chance to work into your system and alter your routines and desires, and see how your life changes as a result.

What you CONSUME you become ACCUSTOMED to.

Amen.