No Decaf Faith Allowed… Hello weekend readers. I am writing this Weekend Musings on a “high-note” because yesterday I was on a “low-note”—my Keurig pod sounded delicious; however I didn’t “take note” that it was decaf-ugh! I drank it anyway but I missed my morning charge-up! I went through the box and collected 6 decaf pods to give away to someone. I admit, I am a coffee lover and I like my caffeine which many times, actually helps me with my life-long challenge of migraines—when one comes on, I am definitely on a “low-note” and that takes me to this devotion about motivation and may I use the words “being a zesty Christian?”

There is a wonderful passage from Hebrews 10:22-25 that perks me up when I am living with ‘decaf faith on a low-note’. The Message gives it vibrancy: “So let’s do it—full of belief, confident that we’re presentable inside and out. Let’s keep a firm grip on the promises that keep us going. He always keeps his word. Let’s see how inventive we can be in encouraging love and helping out, not avoiding worshiping together as some do but spurring each other on, especially as we see the big Day approaching.”

Also, in the Message from Matthew 5:13, Jesus reminds us that we cannot be ‘decaf faith’ folks but we must be good salt—delicious with flavor: “Let me tell you why you are here. You’re here to be salt-seasoning that brings out the God-flavors of this earth. If you lose your saltiness, how will people taste godliness? You’ve lost your usefulness and will end up in the garbage.”

Like decaf coffee, Jesus reminds us that if we become un-salty Christians, we are NOT making a difference in our lives and others. We’re on that ‘low-note’ and what good are we to a world that needs to hear the precious life-changing Gospel?

Have you ever spent time around Christians that lift you up, make you want to be more godly, encourage you to live a lifestyle that reflects the Lord? I have had some awesome friends who I count as mentors in my life and I can only say “I want to be like them—I want my faith to be vibrant and helpful for me and everyone else.”

Living out here in the Southwest, especially in the summer-time, it is easy to get dried up like crusty salt that has lost its flavor. You look for thirst and cannot find it. That is a definition of so many people in our world today. They are thirsting for something but not the right SOMETHING—or—SOMEONE. They follow the latest trends that lead them into a ‘decaf faith’ that leads to a dead-end. Sadly, so many of us believers have also engaged in these dead-end trends. We turn inward to ourselves and our thirst is not for Christ but what we want, what we think we should have—all about me-me-me! Our salt has no flavor and helps no one including ourselves.

When Al and I went camping last week up in the mountains by Mora, NM, we went into the small town that was almost wiped out by the devastating 2022 wildfires created by inept National Forest fire-employees. Seeing gorgeous mountains now denuded to scorched earth and many ranches burned out, you’d expect bitterness from this town. But we didn’t find that at all. In the small grocery store who also sells local meats, cheese, dry-goods—even local artists paintings and carvings, we saw upbeat folks with a glimmer in their eyes and an outlook for a good future. I talked with the couple who owned the store and their faith made me thirsty for a deeper conviction of my own faith. I bought some local beef short-ribs, chocolate, and eggs, and when we ate those products, my heart was just filled with joy for these steadfast faithful folks with zesty faith!

You know, the greatest compliment we Christians can receive is when someone says to us, “How can you be so certain, how can you have such faith—I want to have what you have.” And that is when your thirst will quench their dry hearts and opens the opportunity to share God’s unending love and grace. So, like me and my caffeinated coffee, let’s be “zesty people of faith” that brings out the God-flavors of this earth…filled with savory salts and a loving attitude to share and encourage a crusty world that has lost its way. AMEN.