My Cup Runneth Over

Want to have some fun? There is something you can do to others that will immediately cause them to slow their pace. It will totally change someone's focus. It even has the power to shift the eyes of a teen away from their phone! Wow! What is it?

Fill their coffee cup right to the brim and have them walk across the living room carpet! Ha ha!

"5 My cup runneth over." - Psalm 23:5

Walking with an extremely full cup of hot coffee changes a lot of things. How we walk. Especially over white carpeting! It causes us to slow down. After all, we might spill hot coffee all over us, or the rug. Or both! That would be bad. I'm surprised the government hasn't required warning labels on all coffee cups! Even taking a sip of super-hot coffee causes us to be extra cautious and to take a tiny sip at first.

Hot coffee is HOT! Just ask McDonald's who lost a law suit because they didn't have a warning label on their cups telling people that their hot coffee was . . . hot. We humans can be really dumb. We need warning labels on just about everything we come in contact with. Remember the mirror on the Jeep in Jurassic Park? I rest my case.

It's too bad life doesn't come with warning labels.

What if people came with warning labels? Would you treat them any differently? What would YOUR warning label say?

"Warning: This person will break your heart one day."

"Danger: One more doughnut and the button on your pants will explode."

"Caution: What you are about to eat will make you spend the next 24 hours in the bathroom."

Mine would read, "Beware: Writer. This man enjoys boring other people with his stories. Can cause drowsiness."

Yeah. We never seem to know when life throws us those little curve balls that change our lives forever. Those sudden things that get our attention and make us wish we had done something earlier to change the outcome. Maybe I should have poured my coffee in a bigger cup . . . or not filled my cup so high. Maybe I should have invested more time in my children and told them I love them more often than I did so they wouldn't be on probation right now.

There is a book you can buy that is absolutely FILLED with life's warning labels - those little bits of advice to help you make it through this life. It's called The Bible. Here's a few warning labels that will change the way YOU walk in this world, with or without coffee in your hand.

"2 And do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, that you may prove what is that good and acceptable and perfect will of God." - Romans 12:2

"Let no one deceive you with empty words, for because of these things the wrath of God comes upon the sons of disobedience." - Ephesians 5:6

"You shall not follow other gods, any of the gods of the peoples who surround you, for the LORD your God in the midst of you is a jealous God; otherwise the anger of the LORD your God will be kindled against you, and He will wipe you off the face of the earth." - Deuteronomy 6:14-15

Those are definitely some warnings to heed!

The thing about God I really like is that, despite all the warnings, God loves us. That is why He gives us warnings. Sadly, we often chose to ignore those warnings and . . . we end up staining our once-white carpeting. And only Jesus can get THAT stain out.

Woman Burned By McDonald's Coffee - The New York Times