A coffee shop on a crisp fall day is a perfect place to be. The comfy, worn chairs say “this is a place where people are at home.” The smell of espresso says “something delicious is brewing.” I order my usual and watch, mesmerized, as the barista makes a perfect latte heart, with just a slight swivel of her wrist.
When I take a seat (and a sip), I listen to the next few customers place their orders. Words like “macchiato,” “coconut milk,” “cappuccino,” “half-sweet,” “two pumps of hazelnut,” and yes, that much debated seasonal favorite, “pumpkin spice,” drop so casually from their lips like the leaves fall from the trees outside.
I look down at my own mug, quietly staring into the foam. I realize that I have basically no clue about its true contents aside from espresso. To my cup, my mind, my life I ask, what are we pouring in?
What’s in your cup?
Take a moment and evaluate: what is going into your life right now?
What movies do you watch? What Instagram accounts are you scrolling? What books do you read? What music do you listen to?
Or possibly even more important, who do you listen to? Who are you spending your time with?
Like the content of our favorite caffeinated (or decaffeinated) beverages, the content in our minds and hearts is so important.
Think about a cup of coffee. Drinking it has an effect on your body and different ingredients will bring different flavors and trigger different effects. Your cup of coffee also costs something. Consuming media, spending time with others, and other things occupying the space in our minds are the same, and just like that latte, we want to make sure the effects are desirable and the cost was worthwhile.
Philippians 4:8 offers some insight on what ingredients to use.
“Finally, brothers and sisters, whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable—if anything is excellent or praiseworthy—think about such things.”
Philippians 4:8
Maybe you don’t drink coffee really and this extended analogy is not working for you. Okay, I get that. (I mean, not the coffee part, that’s crazy!)
But the things that occupy our minds are super important– here’s why:
There’s a side-effect.
What we take in affects us. If I drink coffee and soda all day, I’ll be up allllll night from the caffeine. If I eat something I’m allergic to, my body will react. If I take an Advil or two, a headache will subside.
“Yes, Rachel, that’s just basic logic, we get it.”
Good! I’m glad you do, because it’s about to get more interesting.
In Luke 11:34 – 36, Jesus says:
“Your eye is the lamp of your body. When your eyes are healthy, your whole body also is full of light. But when they are unhealthy, your body also is full of darkness. Be careful, then, that the light within you is not darkness. Therefore, if your whole body is full of light, and no part of it dark, it will be just as full of light as when a lamp shines its light on you.”
Luke 11:34-26
Is there a distinct side effect to not receiving light, to having an unhealthy vision? Jesus puts it clearly: darkness.
Why do we keep our minds on what is true, noble, right, pure, lovely, admirable, and praiseworthy? Why do we spend our time talking to Jesus, basking in His light? The side effect of receiving light is light.
There’s a cost.
When we consume or take in something, whether it’s a coffee, a movie, or anything else, there’s a cost.
It might cost your time to scroll for hours on TikTok. (Totally not me. Except totally me.) It might cost you a dollar to rent a movie from a grocery store kiosk. Or six dollars when you return it late.
We want the cost to be worthwhile for anything we consume. And if we are smart consumers, shouldn’t we always choose by outweighing the costs with benefits?
If I used the same time I spent scrolling social media to spend time with God, what would be different?
Social media costs time. For me that’s an embarrassing hour and a half per day. PER DAY. And what are the side effects? I’m anxious about problems that only God can handle, I’m in a mood about a negative post I saw, or I’m just super distracted by theories about Taylor Swift’s version of Red? Not ideal.
If I exchanged that time for time with God, I would be taking in light. The side effects would be… that my body is full of His light? That’s pretty amazing.
And the cost might be letting myself be convicted by the Holy Spirit.
And the cost might be letting go of sins and lies I want to cling to.
And the cost might be a challenge to what I think I know.
But there’s no cost that isn’t worth being filled with the light of our God. Our Savior. King of kings. Lord of lords. Creator of the universe. Name above all names.
Letting God Pour In
Spending time with God is important for us, but it’s also important for others. Remember how Jesus was talking in Luke 11 about how bright being filled with light is? Like always having a lamp shining on you, right?
That makes a difference when we interact with others. Haven’t you noticed that sometimes when you see your bestie, the smile on her face is just so super radiant that you have to say, “wow, you’re glowing!”
It’s a serious side effect of spending time with Jesus. When we’re filled with his light, others can see that shining out of us.
And when someone says, “Wow you’re glowing, girl. What’s your secret?” We can smile and tell them about Jesus. It’s no secret. We’ve been spending time with God, and the same beautiful gift of His grace and His light is there for them too.
“How beautiful on the mountains are the feet of those who bring good news, who proclaim peace, who bring good tidings, who proclaim salvation, who say to Zion, ‘Your God reigns!’”
Isaiah 52:7
Rachel Brei 