Spilling the Coffee

Watch the VIDEO here

Sometimes in the morning it’s not a good idea to leave me alone, especially near things that spill or catch fire.  This morning was one of those days. 

I heard the dog barking to go outside, so I was hurrying to put coffee in the maker so it would perk while I was outside, and…voilà, instant mess!

I recall thinking when those coffee grounds hit the kitchen floor, am I more ticked that now I have to clean up this mess – or – am I more in grieving mode for having wasted precious coffee, the elixir I’m sure Jesus had in mind when he said man shall not live by bread alone (you need coffee to go with it!)?

Either way, the vacuum cleaner got more coffee than I did, and I still had to take the dog out.  Life sometimes is not easily navigated in the mornings; especially without caffeine. 

I think it was that way for Adam and Eve.  God had given them the specifics of life in relationship with Him; avoid that one tree in the middle of the garden…everything else is yours to enjoy and use. 

One prohibition – ONE little level of obedience…and they blew it big-time!

Genesis tells us that the moment they ate from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil their eyes were opened – meaning the eyes of their conscious understanding – and they saw the coffee grounds hit the floor. 

They knew it was going to be a tough day!

What they could not have known was how that opening of the door for sin was going to make for a tough existence for all people.  Our sin nature, inherited from Adam, has a 100% track record of spilling the coffee!  We are all guilty.

But, my little messy morning analogy ends when you try to bring out the vacuum.  When it comes to sin, there is no “un-doing” it. 

And I’m glad the analogy breaks down there; it’s a difficult enough thing to sweep up coffee grounds that cover the kitchen floor and every crack in the linoleum, baseboard and cascade down into the a/c ducts.  When it comes to sin, a lifetime of sweeping it up will only amount to sweeping it under the carpet; it’s always there.

Like King David said after his sin with Bathsheba,

For I acknowledge my transgressions: and my sin is ever before me. Psalm 51:3^(KJV)

I guess we could bring back the vacuum cleaner for the first part of David’s sentence; acknowledging his sin, or confession, is exactly what begins the cleansing.  It is when we acknowledge our sins before God, claiming no innocence, merely admitting our choices are first degree and rightfully deserving of punishment, that we open the door to the grace of Almighty God, and experience forgiveness.

When you confess your sins to God in private, or stand with others in worship and corporately make confession of sin, stand with David’s confession, my sin is ever before me, and I lay it before You, O God.

You can’t “un-spill” the coffee, but you have One who can deal with your mess!

For You Today

If forgiveness is what drives us to Him, confession is what makes us clean in His presence. 

We are good at spilling the coffee and making a mess of our lives; God is really good at getting in all the cracks and crevices to weed out what wrecks our lives.