I don’t really consider myself to be a connoisseur of coffee, but I am picky.  So, to meet my coffee palate on any given day I have various types of coffee and I have different ways to make a cup.  Now, I drink decaf, but it must be dark roast and extra bold.  With a little help from friends I have been finding some good decaf coffee. To make a particular cup depends on the time and the manner of brewing I choose.  If I am in a hurry, I use the Keurig to make a quick cup of whatever Kcup I have, if I will be drinking multiple cups I have an electric percolator to meet the need, if I want a smooth bold taste I use an Aeropress to make a satisfying cup, but If I really want a treat I use an espresso machine to brew a deep rich cup, adding just a little frothed milk and a little dark chocolate to give myself a really morning delight. I am sure there are different ways to make coffee that you use too, as well as different preferences of the coffee roast.

This is so modern culture and truly spoiled.  Yep, I’m spoiled, I’ll admit it.  The problem is that for so many things in our lives we have access to many different ways doing everyday activities, which can become excessive and even demanded as an entitlement.  When we bring that same mindset into the spiritual realm we create a problem.  There are so many different religions and beliefs, churches and practices, theologies and doctrinal dogmas, that in our very self-oriented spirit we’ll use whatever suits us or whatever meets our need or whim for a spiritual fix.  Then we are good with God because we have done a religious practice that has given ourselves a pseudo-spiritual experience.  Again, this is very problematic.

God did not provide man with a spiritual coffee bar to select what “man” wants.  God provided one man, Jesus Christ, to meet the deepest needs of any human being. God provided only one way to have that need met and that is through a faith-trust relationship with Jesus.  John 14:6 reads, “Jesus told him, ‘I am the way, the truth and the life.  No one comes to the Father except through me.’”  Then, Jesus in Luke 9:23 defined what it meant to follow Him, “The He said to them all, ‘If anyone wants to come with Me, he must deny himself, take up his cross daily, and follow Me.’”  If a person desires a relationship with God then there is only one way to have that relationship and that is through Jesus Christ His One and Only Son, that died on the cross for our sin and rose again to give eternal life. Good works won’t bring a relationship (Eph. 2:8-9), practicing lots of religious (spiritualized) activity won’t bring a relationship (Mt. 23:27-28), trying to make your own way to God just won’t work (Acts 4:12).  If there is only one way to have a relationship with God and that is through Jesus, then there is only one way to live life, and that is to live like Jesus. To do so we must “But put on the Lord Jesus Christ and make no plans to satisfy the fleshly desires.” Rom. 13:14

We can choose whatever way we want to brew and drink our coffee, but there is just only one way to be saved and follow Jesus – the Jesus way!