God is like Apple Juice: Thoughts from my bar (Otherwise known as the island in the kitchen)

Usually in the movies, TV shows, or just in normal life, when someone needs to get away to think and just to gather their thoughts, they go to a bar and have a drink. Now don’t get excited. I am not telling all you guys who are reading this to go get drunk at a bar. I am merely giving you the whole bar setting so that you can get somewhat of a feel for what I usually do on the nights where thoughts are provoked. Now I don’t go to an actual bar, but there is a island in our kitchen where I do a lot of my thinking, that island in the kitchen is my “bar”. The drink that I consume is not alcohol. I drink more age appropriate drinks and I don’t drink the same beverage every time I go to my “bar”. It all depends on what mood I’m in. Sometimes I drink apple juice, orange juice, coffee, hot coco, or just the good ole H2O. Last night felt like an apple juice night.

As I sat on one of barstools at the “bar”, I took a long, hearty, thoughtful drink of apple juice. After I had completed the drinking of the apple juice, I sat the glass down and sighed. I thought to myself, “It is a crazy world out there. I only have one more year of school left and then I will have to go out into that crazy world.” As I thought about this fact a little more, it occurred to me that lately, I had been a bit selfish in my thoughts and actions. I mean I always thought that whenever I did something it was all for God’s glory when in reality, Satan had been blinding me. While I thought that I was doing it all for God, I was really doing it for me and my interests. Again I thought to myself, “Man.......I am a selfish jerk.....and not the young man I should be. If I am letting the enemy blind me.....then what kind of Christian am I really? Am I the kind of Christian who just clocks in and clocks out? Do I only do the bare minimum and what is required of me? Why do I only read my Bible for 30 minutes a day when I should be buried in it, and taking every words and applying it to my life? Why do I only pray when I wake up and before I go to be when I should be offering every moment to Christ......Christ....the man that had nine inch nails imbedded into his hands in feet, the man who suffered three inch thorns piercing his holy head. If he put it all on the line for me, then why am I so mediocre and why do I let the very person I want to be farthest away from (Satan) consume my heart?”

I then took a moment to silence all my thoughts and zeroed in on my now empty glass which sat on the island in front of me. I stared at the glass for a while and then thought, “I am like this empty glass. Without anything inside of it, the glass serves no real purpose. I mean the glass may look good without anything inside of it but it still lacks so much. This is like me, while I may seem like a good Christian to others around me, inside, I lack Christ.” I then proceeded to take the apple juice out of the fridge and started to think again, “The apple juice is like God, Bible and the church teachings. It is the drink that satisfies people and makes people feel good.” I then poured the apple juice into my empty glass until the glass overflowed all the time thinking, “Now the glass has a purpose, it is a vessel that holds the drink that all satisfy me by bringing the drink to me and will make me feel good.”

I then immediately got onto my knees and prayed and said, “Lord, make me your overflowing glass, with you always, always, always inside me. Let me be the vessel which brings your word to others in order that you may satisfy their thirst through me. Transform me into yourself and always have me be overflowing with all that is from you.”

After this, like any good child who doesn’t want to upset his mother, I cleaned up the mess I had made then went upstairs to my room to get a good nights sleep. I am happy to say that I probably had the most peaceful sleep I had had in many a while.

If anyone reading takes anything away form this, it’s should be that while you may think you are serving your purpose as a Christian, you could and should always be doing more to fulfill your God-given purpose. Revelation 3:16 teaches us that, “So, Because you are lukewarm--neither hot nor cold--I will spit (vomit) you out of my mouth.” That should really hit it home dudes and dudetts. God will VOMIT us out of his mouth if we are not passionate about him and about what we as Christians believe.

My final message to all is to be happy, stay awesome, and to be the overflowing glass of apple juice. :)

~Andrew T. Ojeda