Obedience is God’s coffee table…

Joshua 5:6

“The Israelites had moved about in the desert forty years until all the men who were of military age when they left Egypt had died, since they had not obeyed the LORD. For the LORD had sworn to them that they would not see the land that he had solemnly promised their fathers to give us, a land flowing with milk and honey.”

   I love coffee. One of God’s greatest gifts to man is coffee. Not only do I love strong coffee but I love orphan care and helping the fatherless and there are just too many good organizations out there that make really great coffee that go to support those causes, and so I feel justified in loving good coffee when I buy it from them.

    

   One of my favorite things about coffee is that it can be served piping hot. Outside, in the cold, walking around with a cup of coffee just makes you feel warmer and can turn what seems like a breezy day into a wonderful outing. Have I mentioned that I love coffee?

   

    I also love the blessings of God. I want to have the blessing and favor of God on my life in a very great and powerful way. We are children of God and are made to carry His Presence. But sometimes, even though I know this, I wonder why I don’t walk in God’s blessing everywhere I go. Asking God this question I got a great answer that allows me to bring the best things in life together in an analogy. The blessings of God….and coffee.

  

    If I go to your home, or a coffee shop, and I want to drink coffee then I will need a cup of coffee, someplace to sit, and a coffee table. The cup is obvious. Of course I need to sit because, well, I’m drinking coffee, but the table is a big bonus too. I like my coffee piping hot and can’t just hold it in my hands, I’m going to need a place to set it….or I’m going to burn my hands because I am clumsy.

    

   What is my point?  You can give me twenty cups of coffee to drink, even all at once, when I come to your house and I will want all of them. The problem is, I am going to need a place to put them. For all the blessings of God on your life, and you want all of them, you still need a place to put them. Obedience is God’s coffee table for your life.

   

    In the scripture above the Israelites were kept out of the Promised Land for disobedience. The problem with disobedience isn’t that it makes God angry at you because you have to earn God’s love through doing what He says, or some other ridiculous notion. No, the reason disobedience is such a problem is because it doesn’t give the gifts of God anyplace to land.

     

   Why is obedience important? Because we can’t handle the blessings of God without character to back them up. If I walk up to you and give you a million dollars (not happening by the way) then what would you do with it? Well I would say that a corvette and a yearlong trip to Vegas are probably poor ways to steward that money. Investing, blessing, saving, etc. are all better ideas. But you wouldn’t do that if you didn’t have the self-control and wisdom to handle your money that way. Giving 1 million bucks to a 12 year old won’t benefit anyone unless you want a lifetime supply of Cheetos and Xbox games. For many of us, the reason God has not given us the things we have asked Him for is because He is developing our character to handle what we have asked for.

    

   I ask for a new job and I get a tough family situation. I ask for a new vehicle and for some reason my bank account bottoms out. I ask for a better home and I can’t sell mine. Could I suggest to you that sometimes the reason we are not walking in the things we have asked for is because sometimes we need the proper character to maintain it? And God has made it so that that only comes through obedience. Obedience is not about us earning the love of God, we already have that in infinite measure. Obedience is about us allowing God to bring us to a place to where we can walk in all of His blessings with integrity. Your blessed life will bless others lives so long as you handle His blessings with Godly character.

   

    I think the greater our obedience, the bigger the coffee table, and the more God given blessings we can contain in our lives…….

   Gonna go grab another cup of Joe…..