It's already perfect

When we come to God and give our lives over to the protection of Jesus we receive a free gift that is perfect, but it doesn't just automatically stay that way. We have to work and discern between what is good (from love) and bad (from evil) to keep His gift in the condition it was when He gave it to us.

Recently, I thought of an analogy to visualize how gifts from God work (in my eyes). Imagine you are given the perfect beverage made especially for you, just the way you like it. I like to imagine coffee, but anything will work. This is the best coffee I've ever had, normally I drink mine black, but this has been prepared with the most robust beans and a flavor profile I wouldn't even know how to put together.

So, I excitedly take the coffee, and start along on my path. Along the way, it seems that everyone is telling me ways that my coffee could be better. Maybe someone says to try it with some alcohol. Another tells me it would be delicious with some extra cream. Then someone suggests whip cream. People start adding ice when I'm not even paying attention--then come the globs of syrup, now it's become a foo-foo drink like they sell on every corner in town.

What happened to my special coffee? How did I allow others to convince me their way would be better, when I already had the best? My original coffee is unrecognizable; and what is left has been diluted by all the ice that keeps getting thrown in. It's not as though it tasted bad with all the additions, it was actually quite good. The thing about the added ingredients is that they don't last! The whip cream deflates, the syrup and cream settle then separate, and the ice melts.

When I have allowed others to try to improve a perfect recipe, or even if I decide to try myself, it has always become diluted. Luckily, God, in His mercy, will remake that coffee if I earnestly pray to be given another chance after making my imperfect decision. This is thanks to the saving grace we all have in the sacrifice of His only Son Jesus to atone for our sins. I pray that I will never again dilute the perfect gift God has placed in my hands that soothes my soul and cleanses with each sip.

AMEN