Welcome to "Friday Evenings," a weekly devotional for Christians everywhere. This week's guest writer is Derl Keefer, author and minister. If you wish to make contact with him, he can be reached at: dkeefer@nazarene.org. This devotional has been adapted and used with his permission.

 

GOD'S COFFEE

Derl Keefer

 

“Being strengthened with all power according to his glorious might so that you have great endurance and patience,

and joyfully giving thanks to the Father”

(Colossians 1:11-12a)

 

Recently a friend sent me an email that grabbed my attention. It was about a group of college alumni, well-established in their careers, who began talking at a reunion about the impact that a professor of theirs had made on each of their lives. They decided to go visit their old professor, who was now retired. During their visit their conversation turned into complaining about the stress in their work and lives.

 

Offering his guests coffee, the professor went to the kitchen and returned with a large pot of coffee and an assortment of cups—porcelain, plastic, glass, crystal, some plain looking, some expensive, some exquisite—telling them to help themselves to the coffee.

 

When all the alumni had a cup of coffee in hand, the professor said, "Notice that each of you took one of the nicer-looking cups. You didn’t take any of the plain ones. While it is normal for you to want the best for yourselves, that has become the source of your problems and stress. The cup itself adds nothing to the quality to the coffee. What all of you really wanted was coffee, not the cup, but you consciously went for the best cups ... and then you began eyeing each other's cups. You compared the quality of your cup with the quality of a friend’s cup."

 

The professor continued, “Now consider this: Life is the coffee; your job, money and position in society are the cups. They are just tools to hold and contain life. The style of cup one has does not define or change the quality of life an individual lives. Sometimes, by concentrating only on the cup, we fail to enjoy the coffee God has provided us. The happiest people don't have the best of everything. They just make the best of everything."

 

Here is the lesson for today: God brews the coffee, not the cups. Enjoy your coffee! Live simply. Love generously. Care deeply.  Speak kindly. Joyfully give thanks to the Father. Spend time with God … over coffee.

 

Heavenly Father, I can be a real jerk at times! Sullen. Complaining. Negative. I really don’t want to be like that. Help me to relax and let you fill my cup full of your life. As you pour yourself into me, may I become open, happy and positive in my outlook on life. May I encourage others to sit down and enjoy coffee with me, and ultimately with you! Amen.