“Keep on asking, and you will receive what you ask for. Keep on seeking, and you will find. Keep on knocking, and the door will be opened to you.” Matthew 7:7 NLT
The legendary stories of the great coffee pot have come to an end. It is… no more! As my mortal soul slowly perks to the mournful tune of TAPS, I must seek, find and implement a mutually satisfying ‘coffee’ solution with my wife. Few things are more difficult!
It was Sunday morning when I got up early to prepare for church. Having preset the coffee to be made upon awakening, a lifeless, empty pot sat where there SHOULD have been hot, steamy, aromatic brew. A frantic pushing of buttons on the panel brought no signs of life. It was GONE! Problem 1… NEED COFFEE!
Katie was asleep and had NO idea the situation existed. But when she awoke, she would WANT COFFEE. That burden rests on me because… He-brews! After weighing options, I found myself standing at Walmart’s coffee pot isle, weighing options. Cost and color battled for dominance. Remembering the old one, BLACK was preferred. But all that sat on the shelf was ‘red’ or ‘silver.’ I had a problem. What do I want???
What I wanted was COFFEE. Knowing my wife to be color particular, I chose the red and hurried home. I KNEW it could go bad… and it did. Only AFTER she drank her coffee did the issue come up! “RED??” she said. “But it clashes! What can we do about THAT?” And the clock was ticking.
Returning the coffee pot didn’t seem a noble answer. “Thank you for the coffee fix, but we really don’t like the color” doesn’t seem a legitimate excuse. The item is now USED! What can THEY do with it? AND… It did DO what I bought it to do. Sunday night reminded me that we would need coffee Monday morning. All I had was a red coffee maker! So I loaded ‘er up!
Now this sounds ridiculous. But like SO many issues of life, it is VERY real. Desire and want constantly fight; color over convenience, easy over difficult, immediate need over artistic expression. No matter the choice, the other choice loses! And time keeps ticking.
Jesus said, “ask and you will receive.” At the initial reading of this verse lies an apparent promise. But with the promise comes other questions. What if what I ask for isn’t what I SHOULD be asking for? Is it possible for me to be WRONG? Will I have to ultimately live with that choice or do I get another. As with SO many lessons from Jesus, the answer to these questions is… “yes!” The REAL question then becomes… ‘what do I REALLY want?’What about YOU?
