• Watch
  • Listen
  • Study
  • Articles
  • Links
  • About
Sunny Slope Church of Christ
  • Watch
  • Listen
  • Study
  • Articles
  • Links
  • About

Cups Of Coffee

5/5/2013

 
 Imagine yourself in some kind of public setting, maybe a meeting of some sort.  You’re with at least a dozen people, some of whom you know quite well, some not so well and still others not at all.  After awhile, somebody shows up with a tray filled with cups of fresh coffee.
 As the tray is passed around, you notice that the coffee is being served in a variety of cups.  Some appear to be made of fine china, others are a mixture of just ordinary cups.  Some bear obvious signs of wear, appearing to have been used over a long period of time.  Some are plain Styrofoam cups.

  Each person in the group takes a cup of coffee.  Interestingly, but probably not surprising, the better looking cups go first.  The Styrofoam cups are the last ones taken.  But, Why?  Why were the more attractive cups of coffee chosen first?  Why were the Styrofoam cups chosen last?  Why did some people in the group feel slighted because the better cups were taken before the tray got around to them?   It was the same coffee in all the cups, made at the same time by the same person, poured out of the same pot!  The coffee is the important thing.  The cup is just a receptacle.  But we have a perception that, somehow, it’s better to have our coffee in a nicer cup.

  Many people, if not most, view life in a similar way.  They focus on outward appearances.  They see some people working at higher paying jobs, wearing fancier clothes, driving more expensive cars, living in bigger homes in better neighborhoods and envy them for it.  They perceive the lives of those people as being better than their own because of the outward appearances.  They calculate that if they could have those kinds of things themselves, their own lives would be better.  Just as with the coffee cups, many people feel slighted, even resentful, for not getting many of the things they see other people possessing.

  But once again, jobs, clothes, cars and houses are only outward things .  What really matters is the life with which each person is blessed, what’s inside.   Things are not what life is all about ( Lk. 12:15 ).  How a person chooses to live, no matter how much or how little he possesses materially, will determine the quality of his life.  Basing the quality of one’s life primarily on the things that he possesses will result in a largely empty life.  We’re all aware of countless people of great wealth, and the outward appearance of great success, who lived terribly broken lives.  And, we’ve all met people of meager financial means whose lives have been happy and full and rich.

  We need to focus on living life in the most meaningful way possible, with our primary focus being spiritual, serving our Heavenly Father.  When we realize that this world is just a staging ground for eternal life, and live accordingly, we’ll tend to find greater contentment, peace and fulfillment in our lives here.  And we’ll realize that the outward appearances are relatively inconsequential.  Remember, it’s not the cup, it’s the coffee that really matters…


Comments are closed.

    Author

    Gary L. Hutchens

    Categories

    All
    Dennis Stackhouse
    Gary Hutchens

    Archive

    September 2022
    August 2022
    July 2022
    June 2022
    May 2022
    April 2022
    March 2022
    February 2022
    January 2022
    December 2021
    November 2021
    October 2021
    September 2021
    August 2021
    July 2021
    June 2021
    May 2021
    April 2021
    March 2021
    February 2021
    January 2021
    December 2020
    November 2020
    October 2020
    September 2020
    August 2020
    July 2020
    June 2020
    May 2020
    April 2020
    March 2020
    February 2020
    January 2020
    December 2019
    November 2019
    October 2019
    September 2019
    August 2019
    July 2019
    June 2019
    May 2019
    April 2019
    March 2019
    February 2019
    January 2019
    December 2018
    November 2018
    October 2018
    September 2018
    August 2018
    July 2018
    June 2018
    May 2018
    April 2018
    March 2018
    February 2018
    January 2018
    December 2017
    November 2017
    October 2017
    September 2017
    August 2017
    July 2017
    June 2017
    May 2017
    April 2017
    March 2017
    February 2017
    January 2017
    December 2016
    November 2016
    October 2016
    September 2016
    August 2016
    July 2016
    June 2016
    May 2016
    April 2016
    March 2016
    February 2016
    January 2016
    December 2015
    November 2015
    October 2015
    September 2015
    August 2015
    July 2015
    June 2015
    May 2015
    April 2015
    March 2015
    February 2015
    January 2015
    December 2014
    November 2014
    October 2014
    September 2014
    August 2014
    July 2014
    June 2014
    May 2014
    April 2014
    March 2014
    February 2014
    January 2014
    December 2013
    November 2013
    October 2013
    September 2013
    August 2013
    July 2013
    June 2013
    May 2013
    April 2013
    March 2013
    February 2013
    January 2013
    December 2012
    November 2012
    October 2012
    September 2012
    August 2012
    July 2012
    June 2012
    May 2012
    April 2012
    March 2012
    February 2012
    January 2012
    March 2008
    February 2008
    January 2008
    January 2007

Member Login
SUBMIT PRAYER REQUEST
© 2019 Sunny Slope Church of Christ | All Rights Reserved
3606 N. 108th St., Omaha, NE 68164 | (402) 498-8397 | Contact Us
  • Watch
  • Listen
  • Study
  • Articles
  • Links
  • About