It's all about the joe.
2016/10/3
A little thought that I had 2 weeks ago. I wish I could polish it out more, but this was the best I could get. Let's say I served you a cup of coffee.
Now imagine that the cup is filled with coffee. The aromatics are good. The color is deep. And the taste, it like nothing you've ever known. A coffee that fills your palate with insurmountable joy with every sip you take.
But the coffee I served to you came in a styrofoam cup. Like. Imagine being served coffee in this:
You didn't ask for it to be in a styrofoam cup. You're not going somewhere. You're just here to drink the coffee. The person next to you, who is also here to drink coffee, has been served as well. But the cup he/she has is not the same as your cup. Their cup is made of ceramic, it has a nice design on it, and looks like the kind of cup that you would take your "hipster photo" that you want to upload onto instagram for the likes. Would that make you feel differently about your cup of coffee? And why?
In the mind of a consumer, it would be offensive to be served in a cup that was "below" the cut of another cup served to someone else within the same shop. But the coffee in both your paper cup, and the coffee in the other persons ceramic cup are the same.
I would like you as the reader to really sit down and think about that concept. The cups are different, but the coffee, the content, what is being held in each of your cups, is the same before continuing on in this post.
It is not our outward appearance that determines our identity, or our circumstances that affect our being. But really, our contents, the things we hold, and what we have within ourselves that define our being. We are, by function, the vessels for the substance that is Christ.
Cups have no bearing on how coffee will taste, and with Jesus, we are the same way. As vessels for His glory, we are only containers for His ultimate blessing. Coffee takes the shape, size, volume, and form of it's container. The only thing cups have to be worried about is making sure it can hold the contents.
Often we worry about our size, shape, appearance, material, our jobs, our money, grades, hobbies, lifestyle, and other factors to determine who we are or what we're worth, but that's not how God feels about us.
Ephesians 2:1-10 are the verses that I think paint one of the most beautiful pictures of the fullness of God that has been bestowed upon each and every single one of us, but also keeping the integrity of the statement that each and every single one of us are made unique in the hands of the great creator. (will put the verses in references if you want to easily access them)
Note in verse 10 that Paul defines us as God's workmanship, and that we were all created in Christ Jesus for good works. That God already made us how He wanted us to be fitted in. That is something amazing. If you want to know why and how that's possible, see in verses 4-9, that our faith, not our works define our identity. Rather, our works showcase the grace of God.
Your life, regardless of its circumstances, holds a meaning and specific purpose for the glory of God. Things won't always work or look exactly like what you wanted them to, or get the results you wanted to see. But that's okay, because your cup isn't what it's all about. It's all about the joe.
References: Ephesians 2: 1-10 And you were dead in the trespasses and sins in which you once walked, following the course of this world, following the prince of the power of the air, the spirit that is now at work in the sons of disobedience— among whom we all once lived in the passions of our flesh, carrying out the desires of the body and the mind, and were by nature children of wrath, like the rest of mankind. But God, being rich in mercy, because of the great love with which he loved us, even when we were dead in our trespasses, made us alive together with Christ—by grace you have been saved— and raised us up with him and seated us with him in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus, so that in the coming ages he might show the immeasurable riches of his grace in kindness toward us in Christ Jesus. For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God, not a result of works, so that no one may boast. For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand, that we should walk in them.