Have you ever been awakened by the aroma of fresh coffee? Or have you ever risen to freshly made coffee in the morning that someone you love as made for you? If you have then you have experienced your senses awakening to the intense smell of coffee beans. Also you have probably experienced the sweet and biter taste of coffee as well. the next question that I will raise is, have you ever walked into a coffee shop and been greeted with the smell of fresh espresso being ground by a barista, or have you been greeted with a quite place to think within a place like a coffee shop? Your probably thinking what does coffee or the aroma of coffee have to do with anything. The reason this is brought to my attention is because, of this verse in Ephesians it talks about being awakened by from a slumber of a dead sleep so that the light of Christ can shine. It says in, “But when anything is exposed by the light, it becomes visible, for anything that becomes visible is light. Therefore, it says, Awake O sleeper, and arise from the dead, and Christ will shine on you.” (Ephesians 5:13-14ESV).
Moreover, the question is what does being awakened by the aroma of coffee have to do with waking from a dead slumber? For instance when Christ awakens, he awakens my faith from a dead slumber, he sweetly awakens me by the sweet aroma of his love. In which he brings to light what my heart needs to hear and by showing me what I need to do. He brings to light what needs to be visibly seen and what needs to be exposed. Another way he awakens my faith is by whispering into my soul what he longs for me to hear and understand. Yet at times it is hard to hear his voice clearly. It is like I know he is there besides me constantly, but there needs to be clarity. For example he could be speaking but all I believe I hear is the distractions like a loud coffee grinder is going on. Yet, if I stop and listen let the distractions fall away and sit in his presence then his voice can be heard. Then his voice can become clearer. Yet stopping and listening, or shutting up and listening is sometimes easier said then done, because the struggle to be in control and the struggle to fix things is always there. It’s like the little lingering voice of insecurities that are in the back of our minds. An illustration would could be the insecurity of comparison. There are many pit falls to this insecurity. It robs us from seeing things from God’s perspective and being able to see ourselves through his eyes. It is a complete distraction from focusing on Jesus Christ and his love for us. Comparison makes us believe there is something to prove, when in fact we have nothing to prove except that without Christ we cannot do anything. The point is when I submit to God and his love then I can hear his voice more clearly, and I can taste, smell, the sweet aroma of his love and everything else fades away. I'll end this post with this its time to embrace the aroma of Christ's love.
References
English Standard Version Study Bible (2008) Crossway Publishing, Wheaton IL.
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