Son Tea
Abide in Me, and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit of itself unless it abides in the vine, so neither can you unless you abide in Me. (John 15: 4)
You can learn a lot about people by watching the way they drink their tea. There are normally two types of tea drinkers. Some people are dippers. Others are soakers. The “dippers” dip their tea bag up and down in the mug. Up and down – in and out. A lot of Christians are just like that. They dip into the church on a Sunday morning then they dip back out. When it’s convenient for their schedule, they dip in. When there is a competing desire or another attraction, they dip back out. But there’s another way to drink tea and that’s to be a “soaker.” Soaking is simple – just drop the tea bag into the mug and let it stay there. Without touching the bag an amazing thing will happen. The color of the water begins to change. The influence of the bag in the hot water effects change inside the cup. You can just sit and watch the transformation take place as the flavor of the tea begins to permeate the water.
Now if you’re a “dipper” you’ve got to make things change by your own effort. You’ve got to move the bag up and down, dip the spoon in and out of the cup, wrap the string around the spoon, jerk and then pull. It can require a lot of human effort. But when you’re a soaker all you have to do is allow the tea to abide in the cup. The tea does all the work for you. The tea releases its flavor and the water is changed. In fact as long as you allow the tea bag to soak – the water cannot resist the change that is going to happen.
Now there are reasons that some people are “dippers” and others are “soakers.” Dippers are normally concerned about the strength of their tea. If you allow a tea bag to just sit there in the mug and soak, their concern is that too much of the tea will get into the water. Dippers want to control the flavor of their tea. So when the water is changed to suit their individual taste they say to the tea bag, “That’s enough. You’ve influenced my water enough.” Soakers are different. They like it strong. They want the water saturated with the influence of the tea bag. However strong the tea gets as a result of the soaking, it’s just fine with them.
In the verse above Jesus is talking about abiding. The word “abide” means “to remain” or as it relates to the above illustration, “to soak.” To “abide” is to have Jesus permeates our lives - all the time – in every way. Jesus isn’t looking for part-time dippers. He is looking for full-time soakers. He wants to make sure His influence changes up completely on the inside so that every area of our life is impacted. Our lives are to be so steeped with his presence, that he completely changes us into what he wants us to be.
How do we know if we are a “soaker” or a “dipper?” Soakers have a visible manifestation of fruit in their life. “He who abides in me and I in Him bears much fruit, for apart from me you can do nothing.” Those whose lives are saturated with His presence show the influence he has upon them. Soakers produce spiritual fruit because they have been changed on the inside. Dippers, because they have a relatively empty cup, pretty much go through the motions of faith but remain the same. Now catch this: It’s the influence on the inside that determines what is produced on the outside. Every once in a while I’ll hear someone comment on a particularly bad behavior or attitude they let slip out. They’ll say something like, “That was so unlike me – I don’t know where it came from.” Not true. It came out because it was just like you. What’s on the outside reveals what’s really on the inside. If the inside has been transformed because of the abiding presence of Christ, then the outside is absolutely going to show it. If the inside has only been dipping occasionally into His presence, then the transformation on the inside is not going to be complete. And then when what’s on the inside begins to work its way to the outside, everyone is going to know that the inside hasn’t been changed because the outside reveals the real nature of what’s actually abiding on the inside. If the presence of Christ abides on the inside, there is going to be spiritual fruit on the outside. If there is only an empty cup on the inside, there is going to be a lack of spiritual fruit produced and what is produced that person’s life will reveal it.
So are you a “dipper” or a “soaker?” Take Jesus’ advice – make sure he permeates your life today and produces in you his kind of fruit. Fill my cup Lord.
Live the Victorious life,
PT
You can learn a lot about people by watching the way they drink their tea. There are normally two types of tea drinkers. Some people are dippers. Others are soakers. The “dippers” dip their tea bag up and down in the mug. Up and down – in and out. A lot of Christians are just like that. They dip into the church on a Sunday morning then they dip back out. When it’s convenient for their schedule, they dip in. When there is a competing desire or another attraction, they dip back out. But there’s another way to drink tea and that’s to be a “soaker.” Soaking is simple – just drop the tea bag into the mug and let it stay there. Without touching the bag an amazing thing will happen. The color of the water begins to change. The influence of the bag in the hot water effects change inside the cup. You can just sit and watch the transformation take place as the flavor of the tea begins to permeate the water.
Now if you’re a “dipper” you’ve got to make things change by your own effort. You’ve got to move the bag up and down, dip the spoon in and out of the cup, wrap the string around the spoon, jerk and then pull. It can require a lot of human effort. But when you’re a soaker all you have to do is allow the tea to abide in the cup. The tea does all the work for you. The tea releases its flavor and the water is changed. In fact as long as you allow the tea bag to soak – the water cannot resist the change that is going to happen.
Now there are reasons that some people are “dippers” and others are “soakers.” Dippers are normally concerned about the strength of their tea. If you allow a tea bag to just sit there in the mug and soak, their concern is that too much of the tea will get into the water. Dippers want to control the flavor of their tea. So when the water is changed to suit their individual taste they say to the tea bag, “That’s enough. You’ve influenced my water enough.” Soakers are different. They like it strong. They want the water saturated with the influence of the tea bag. However strong the tea gets as a result of the soaking, it’s just fine with them.
In the verse above Jesus is talking about abiding. The word “abide” means “to remain” or as it relates to the above illustration, “to soak.” To “abide” is to have Jesus permeates our lives - all the time – in every way. Jesus isn’t looking for part-time dippers. He is looking for full-time soakers. He wants to make sure His influence changes up completely on the inside so that every area of our life is impacted. Our lives are to be so steeped with his presence, that he completely changes us into what he wants us to be.
How do we know if we are a “soaker” or a “dipper?” Soakers have a visible manifestation of fruit in their life. “He who abides in me and I in Him bears much fruit, for apart from me you can do nothing.” Those whose lives are saturated with His presence show the influence he has upon them. Soakers produce spiritual fruit because they have been changed on the inside. Dippers, because they have a relatively empty cup, pretty much go through the motions of faith but remain the same. Now catch this: It’s the influence on the inside that determines what is produced on the outside. Every once in a while I’ll hear someone comment on a particularly bad behavior or attitude they let slip out. They’ll say something like, “That was so unlike me – I don’t know where it came from.” Not true. It came out because it was just like you. What’s on the outside reveals what’s really on the inside. If the inside has been transformed because of the abiding presence of Christ, then the outside is absolutely going to show it. If the inside has only been dipping occasionally into His presence, then the transformation on the inside is not going to be complete. And then when what’s on the inside begins to work its way to the outside, everyone is going to know that the inside hasn’t been changed because the outside reveals the real nature of what’s actually abiding on the inside. If the presence of Christ abides on the inside, there is going to be spiritual fruit on the outside. If there is only an empty cup on the inside, there is going to be a lack of spiritual fruit produced and what is produced that person’s life will reveal it.
So are you a “dipper” or a “soaker?” Take Jesus’ advice – make sure he permeates your life today and produces in you his kind of fruit. Fill my cup Lord.
Live the Victorious life,
PT
posted by Larry | 2:04 PM
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