A group of alumni, highly established in their careers, got together to visit their old university professor.  Conversation soon turned into complaints about stress in work and life.

Offering his guests coffee, the professor went to the kitchen and returned with a large pot of coffee and an assortment of cups - porcelain, plastic, glass, crystal, some plain looking,  some expensive, some exquisite - telling them to help themselves to the  coffee.

When all the students had a cup of coffee in hand, the professor said, "If you noticed, all the nice looking expensive cups were taken, leaving behind the plain and cheap ones. While it is normal for you to want only the best for yourselves, that is the source of your problems and stress. Be assured that the cup itself adds no quality to the coffee in most cases, just more expensive and in some cases even hides what we drink.
 
What all of you really wanted was coffee, not the cup, but you consciously went for the best cups... and then began eyeing each other’s cups.

Now consider this: Life is the coffee, and the jobs, money and positions in society are the cups.  They are just tools to hold and contain Life, and the type of cup we have does not define, nor change the quality of Life we live.
 
Sometimes, by concentrating only on the cup, we fail to enjoy the coffee God has provided us. God brews the coffee, not the cups. Enjoy your coffee.

Life is God's gift to us. The way we live it, is our gift to God. If we are going to savor Life we cannot conform to the patterns of this world. We cannot be lured into thinking that more is always better when it comes to possession, wealth, power, prestige, pleasure, etc. “Do not be conformed to the patterns that there are, but rather be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God’s will is – His good, pleasing and perfect will.”

God has good, pleasing and perfect plans for you. He wants only what is best for you. He wants you to be transformed with renewed minds, living to honor and obey Him.

Prayerfully yours in Christ,