Good

I try so hard NOT to be a snob. I come from a humble family, live in a humble town in a humble county in a humble state, have married a humble man and try to live humbly. 

 [But you know, of course, the minute you think you're humble, you're actually prideful, right? Because you're proud that you're so humble.]

 Anyway, I have a confession to make: I am a coffee snob.

 It's my husband's fault. For many years, he chaperoned a trip to Costa Rica in January, teaching Tennessee teenagers how to surf. [Tough job, but somebody's got to do it!] He left me at home with our two kids, handling the normal, non-beach, non-surfing, January life. 

 So he felt guilty enough to bring me back some Costa Rican coffee. Though he has never tasted coffee {I hear gasps from around the world!} and claims he never will, he knows I love it. And everyone on the trip was talking about how great the coffee was in Costa Rica. So the first year he brought me back four or five pounds. 

 And I became a coffee snob.

 I don't know the words that describe coffee or how to portray how it tastes. But after one sip of Costa Rican coffee, my palate has changed because I now know what good coffee tastes like. 

 Good coffee. Not good as in "good/better/best", but good as in high-quality. Choice. Superior. Several of you have tasted my Costa Rican coffee when you come to visit and I am pretty confident everyone has said something like, "Oh, this is so good." 

 And here's the deal: we've all had normal coffee. You've gotten it at home and at work, at gas stations and the grocery store, at rest areas and where you get your oil changed. (I have drunk coffee at all these places and more.) That normal coffee gets the job done: it jolts you awake, helps you focus, and keeps you going.

 But it wasn't until I had good coffee that I actually savored every sip. I can make a cup of good coffee last an hour. It needs no flavoring to hide the bitterness because it's not bitter; it's good.

 I look forward to my cup of coffee every morning not because I need to wake up but because it is good. And it was my Costa Rican coffee that let me understand Psalm 34:8:

 "Taste and see that the Lord is good," (NIV).

 Several translations put "Oh!" in front of it, as in "Oh! Taste and see that the Lord is good." The Message puts it this way: "Open your mouth and taste, open your eyes and see--how good God is." 

 God is not good as in "good/better/best." He is the highest quality. Superior. Choice. HOLY. Set apart. Unlike any other.

 Some of you are thinking, "Meh. I've done the religion thing. I've done the church thing. Not a fan." I'm not talking about religion or church; I'm talking about God.

 [Religion and church have humans in them. Humans--even those of us who love the Lord and do our best to follow Him--mess up in every way.] 

 But not God. HE IS GOOD. Always. 

 He created all that exists and declared it good (Genesis 1:31).
Anything good in us comes from Him (Psalm 16:2).
What He does is good (Psalm 119:68).
He sets the standard for good; even Jesus declared Him the "only One who is good," (Matthew 19:17). 

 And here's more: since He is the source of all good, and He creates all that is good, He has all good at His disposal. And we are told in Psalm 84:11 that "no good thing does He withhold from those who walk uprightly" (ESV).

 He is good and He gives us all His good things.

 So as you sit down today and enjoy a good cup of coffee or a good book or a good friend, acknowledge that He gave it to you. Thank Him for His goodness and for sharing that goodness with you.

 Let Him re-define "good" for you. Seek to be good, to do good, and spread goodness according to the goodness that comes from God. 

 Even the "normal" can remind us of the good. I'll drink gas station coffee with you; remember, I'm trying not to be a snob. But with every sip I'll think, "I miss my good coffee." 

 We live in a world of normal. Seek the good. Share the good. Be the good.

@leslienotebook
myleslienotebook@gmail.com



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