I want results....now!

I love Bunn coffee pots. They are some of the greatest, if not the greatest, machines for brewing coffee in the whole entire world as long as we are talking about drip coffee. What makes the Bunn so special of a coffee pot though? The fact of the matter is that I can brew a pot of fresh hot delicious coffee in three minutes using a Bunn-o-matic (Bunn) drip coffee maker. A whole pot in just three minutes. Exactly why do I need a pot in three minutes? Well the answer is simple....I want results (my coffee) and I want them now! I don't want to have to wait for it, I want to put the ingredients together and almost instantly see results. This is kind of a picture of my spiritual life as well. Instant results are what I want, but I have figured out there is no Mature-o-matic Christian maker, good solid spiritual growth is more like an old percolator pot of coffee. It takes a while, but if you do it right it makes the best tasting coffee. However if you do it wrong the coffee is ruined, and you waited for nothing.

Larry, my good friend, preached this Sunday night on being patient and persevering through trials. His text was the beginning of James, just the first few verses, as he began preaching expositorily through the whole book on Sunday nights. He reminded us that like an old percolator pot God slow brews us as Christians through trials and testings over time. If we fail to go through the trials we fail to grow, or become that good pot of strong coffee. He also reminded us that if we don't go through the trial right trusting in the Lord that the pot of coffee comes out on the other side messed up, kind of like if I put too little or too much coffee in the basket, or if I don't put the filter in right, or if I start with hot water already to speed the process up. I am very capable of messing up what God is trying to do in my life because I want the instant results of the Christian-o-matic instead of God's proven growth process of being slow brewed.

Maturity in the Lord and real Christian growth only comes as we walk with the Lord over time, it is a long process filled with trials, tribulation, persecution, and even death for some. Yet in the end I will be stronger if I walk his way, and in the process I will have a sweet smelling aroma of obedience, love, and virtue wafting off of me as I follow Christ. It is kind of like that old percolator pot, you can smell the brew, and it smells so good, before it is actually ready. It makes you look forward to the time when it is done, kind of like we look forward to, and long for the time when Christ completes his work in us and calls us home to be with him. So while it is wonderful to speed brew a pot of coffee for friends and family to drink, let's not rush our growth in Christ by trying to avoid trials, but rather like James says (James 1:1-4) let us consider it pure joy as we go through trials of many kinds so that by our faith being tested we can have perseverance and ultimately perfection in Christ as we become all the more mature.

On a side note God has actually used coffee brewing as an illustration in the Bible as well. Some of you know what I mean, others are scratching your heads, but it is true. Don't believe me then why is another name for the Jewish people Hebrews? (get it?)