I remember being at my grandmother’s house when I was eight or nine years old. I was sitting on a bar stool next to my grandfather and eating breakfast—our morning routine after I stayed the night. My grandmother typically went a little overboard on the menu, and that day was no exception. We had bacon, eggs, biscuits and her famous white gravy. We always had our yellow-tinted juice glasses filled to the brim with orange juice.
But my grandparents always had another cup near their breakfast plates. I didn’t know much about that drink other than they had it every morning, just like my parents did. That particular morning, I decided to ask for some. My grandmother told me I wouldn’t like it, and she had never been more right. I thought it was so bad that I added a ton of strawberry milk syrup.
Many of us have some type of memory from when we first had this drink—coffee. For me, it was a fond memory with my grandparents, both of whom I will never again get to enjoy breakfast with on this earth. I wouldn’t really drink coffee again until my sophomore year of high school at Starbucks when I needed to write papers and prep for a test the next day. Over the next several years, I would drink more coffee than I ever thought possible.
A work of art
It wasn’t until I moved to Louisville, Ky., that I learned there was an art to coffee. “The land where the coffee flows,” read the bag of one high-end, third-wave coffee roaster. In Louisville, I was exposed to a slow-brewed pour over coffee using tools like the Chemex or V60. I was introduced to burr grinders and different roasting levels between beans. I learned about fair trade coffee and competitions where people attempt to brew the perfect cup of joe. For these people, coffee was much more than just a pick-me-up drink.
I think one thing is often overlooked when it comes to mundane pleasures like a fine cup of coffee. Often, we forget the artistry that goes into the coffee itself—from the farmer who knows just when and how to plant for the perfect harvest, to the barista that shows off their latte art or their favorite brewing method. Coffee isn’t just a commodity to be enjoyed. It’s a work of art and creativity. And for the Christian, we see that it’s another good gift coming down from the Father.
Our God created the soil and the beans. He created the people who picked and roasted them. He gave the creative talents needed for roasting and gifted the person who created each of the tools that I use to brew my own coffee. He created the owners of the small shops down the street with a passion to start small businesses and love their neighborhoods.
This creativity and art isn’t limited to coffee. Food, art, music, photography and design all have inherent value because it is through these that many people live out the image of God through creating art for the enjoyment of others. God created each of them with gifts and talents that were designed to be used in glorifying him.
Our creative faculties and art reflect our God. He is the ultimate creative and artist. As we appreciate a fine cup of coffee, a grand painting, a perfectly cooked steak or listen to a beautiful melody, we can see the glory of God’s creation and bask in that glory as we worship him, since it’s through him that all of these things are even possible.
Enjoying coffee to God’s glory
For me, coffee is much more than just a cup. Coffee brings back many fond memories. It’s over that cup of coffee that I have had many hard, gospel-centered conversations. It’s over a cup of coffee that I often looked lovingly at my now wife as we studied and talked about the future together. It was with a cup of coffee in hand that I read some of the richest theology I had ever been exposed to while in school. It was next to that cup of coffee that I made life-long friends. And it’s also through that cup of coffee that I’m reminded of the glory of our God as I reflect on how he created us to make things to reflect his glory.
We are often tempted to think that luxuries in life are superfluous. There’s an element of truth in that statement. Do I need to have a slow brewed cup of coffee? Of course not, but I still enjoy it and can worship God as I drink it. The luxuries in life are just that—they are luxuries. They’re good gifts from our infinitely creative God who is glorified when we enjoy the things that he has created.
Our God is a God that reminds us that we are to take the earth and subdue it. We are to have dominion over it as creatures made in his image. And something as simple as a cup of coffee reminds me of the lavish grace from God that I’ve received through Jesus and of the many good gifts I’ve been given freely—like my marriage, friendships and the coffee-stained Bible I carry that teaches me about my creative God.
Article originally appeared at ERLC.com