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by Erin Dabis Wikle –
I recently moved from the Great Northwest down south to sunny San Diego. Can’t complain; the weather is great, and I’m slowly adjusting to the “SoCal” way of doing things. In fact, for a short time, I seemed to have grown estranged from a non-fat daily habit that certainly was no stranger in Seattle. Could it be? The kickback style of San Diego had somehow soothed my daily craving for a fat-free, frothy latté? Get out.
No kidding. For about two weeks, it was weird. It was as though this daily habit just vanished. No cravings, no (undiagnosed) physical dependency, no frantic searching for a few spare dollars… no need for Starbucks! That’s right, Starbucks. God had delivered me from a worldly addiction, and I didn’t have to do a thing!
Okay, it lasted exactly 14 days. Pathetic.
I now write to you with an empty coffee cup by my side and a life lesson brewing up too quickly for my typing. The things of this world sure are fleeting. Some may echo my Starbucks sentiment while some prefer a Pop-tart or a cold Pepsi. Whatever your “quick fix” to get you through each day, it’s not eternal. Too often I’ve wondered why I am so quick to run for Starbucks at the start of my day rather than crack my Bible open and spend a few sacred moments with the Lord. Even now, my pondering seems to seldom activate anything else. While Starbucks is a habitual and daily occurrence, Christ usually gets put off until the evening, when though I didn’t ask him to bless and protect that day that just passed, I can at least ask him to guard my sleep. Right?
Wrong.
When I wake in the morning, I want my day to begin with the Lord. I don’t want “just” a cup of Christ either. I want the whole thing. I want him overflowing, saturating my day, and satiating my thirst for something more. Christ deserves my dependence on him; he desires that I crave his goodness. It doesn’t cost me a thing. Just my time and a risk that he too, will become a “habit.”
Why not?
“For he satisfies the thirsty and fills the hungry with good things.” (Psalm 107:9) Yeah, Starbucks’ got nothing on that.
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