okay i'm not really enjoying coffee, or any kind of hot beverage to say the least, but what, you might ask, am i drinking on this dreary rainy morning that hits the spot just like... ahhhhh... yes, that is nice. oh, it's root beer.
"root beer? rooooooot beeeeeer? blasphemy! and utter shame!"
well, not as bad as all that. sure, you might criticize me
for this breach in beverage-protocol... that i would dare to drink a cold carbonated soda from an aluminum can, when in fact the purpose of this essay is to be read and enjoyed while downing a fine name brand espresso, or while pondering over a bath-tub sized cup of foamy cappuccino, or just drinking some straight up black-as-tar campfire java. of course, it really doesn't matter now does it? one is soothing and the other is (to me) refreshing.
let us keep this one thing in mind: not all drinks are the same. some are quite cold, and some are diametrically opposed as being very hot, but rarely are drinks ever warm. can you imagine asking for a cup of hot tea at your favorite restaurant, and receiving instead a small dish of room temperature tap water with a suspicious looking tea-bag limply floating around inside of it? or how about ordering a wonderful strawberry milk-shake at your local ice cream parlor, and much to your disdain, they hand you a cup of syrupy muck that smells like rotting fruit. gross? yes, i agree.
in the same way, let us look at ourselves in this matter. what temperature are you? what is your thermostat set on? and what are you doing to affect the world around you. our spiritual lives should be accurately temperatured in the same way that we see it in the bible. in revelation 3:15 & 16, we hear the Son of Man saying that He wants a hot or a cold church, but because we are luke warm... He's gonna spew!
what does a hard working farmer want after he's been laboring all day in the corn fields, but to relax under a shady tree with a tall cool glass of refreshing lemonade or orange juice? or how about the elderly lady who, after walking to the grocery store in a foot and a half of snow to get groceries for herself and for her husband... doesn't she deserve a nice steamy mug of fresh herbal tea? does the farmer want hot cocoa? does the woman need ice water? no! they would only become sick and no good would come of it.
so what shall we do then? wake up and smell the coffee! we should be the hot drink in the blizzards of life, and we should become cool liquids throughout the deserts of loneliness, hot or cold, peaceful or powerful, recharging or relaxing... just make sure that in whatever you do, work at it with all your heart as working for the Lord, and not for men.
Copyright 2003 by pauly hart
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