{690 words of personal reflection that have less to do with the picture of absolutely delicious sweet tea to the left, and way, way more to do with Jesus Christ, Lord of the Heavens and Earth | Matthew 11:25}
I'm sure you've heard of "If life's a beach, then I'm playing in the sand." Well here's a new one for you: If life's a soda fountain, then I'm drinking water.
I think that some could agree that getting a fountain-drink at a fast-food place or restaurant could easily be one of the biggest wastes of money, causing it to also be an easy way to save some money here and there. In the moment, it may be fulfilling to indulge in an ice-cold Coke, but it can add up to hundreds of dollars to your yearly spending. You must ask yourself, is it a worthy investment?
I'm really not here to make you feel guilty about that weekly sweet tea or Arnold-Palmer, because I do love my sweet tea in copious amounts, and that would be hypocritical. However, there are evident parallels between the process of buying a costly drink, and the presence of sin in a Christian's life. A "Big Gulp" or "Polar Pop" may sound great at the time, but your wallet may begin to disagree, and after a few minutes, it's gone. Those "dollars well-spent" are never coming back, but was it worth it? Likewise, the desires of the world can and will be costly. But is it a worthy investment?
Some people look at the world like it is one big, personal fountain-machine, and they go through life with a white styrofoam cup in hand. They seek everything and anything that the world has to offer, including desires to taste everything they can fit into that one cup. They act as if buying one cup entitles them to keep refilling over and over again, day after day, with no repercussions. This is because the world tells us, "do what you want," "do it whenever you want," and "do it however you want." These can easily amount to the infamously sinful desires of this world.
Galatians 5:19-21 says, "Now the deeds of the flesh are evident, which are: immorality, impurity, sensuality, idolatry, sorcery, enmities, strife, jealousy, outbursts of anger, disputes, dissensions, factions, envying, drunkenness, carousing, and things like these, or which I forewarn you, just as I have forewarned you, that those who practice such things will not inherit the kingdom of God."
But now we have attained an accountability that those with a Styrofoam cup are not responsible for, and quite honestly, some are just waiting for us to mess up. To say the wrong things. To do the wrong things. We mess up daily, but we are never too far gone to right ourselves, our testimonies, and our walks with God. Don't be the person who gets a free water cup and then puts Coke in it. That ruins our reliability. Likewise, we ruin our testimony when we claim to have that "white cup," but choose to fill it with impure filth.
Though Romans 12:2 is one of my favorites, a less common verse is 2 Corinthians 6:17. It proclaims, "Therefore, 'Come out from them and be separate, says the Lord. Touch no unclean thing, and I will receive you.'" Though Paul's words in Romans are powerful, seeing them written in red causes them to take on a whole new level of meaning and authority.
Jesus is the ice to your drink. If he isn't in "the mix," then we will be warm, or rather lukewarm. And who likes a warm soda? Revelation 3:16: "So, because you are lukewarm--neither hot nor cold--I am about to spit you out of my mouth. With him, not only are we refreshed, but also the ones around us as they 'feed' off of our energy."
You could attempt complete satisfaction within the confines of soda, pop, the world, desires of the flesh, or whatever, but in the highest of ways, Jesus Christ is the only way to attain COMPLETE and utter satiation and nutrition.