Blah, Blah, Blah, and Coffee

Those of you who read my post often know that I have an affinity for Starbucks Chai. Most days when I walk in, I'm greeted by someone who calls me by name and they look at me with this knowing look and say, "Venti no-water chai?". It's my "NORM!" experience when I walk in (watch the sitcom Cheers if you didn't understand that comment).
Occassionaly there is a girl that works there that wants to knock me off my routine. I don't do coffee. I just don't. My dad tried to get me to "learn" to develop a taste. Yuk! Now don't say, "Oh, if you would try it now you would like it." Wrong again. I've tried it. In the last two months I've tried it again. The best I can do is a couple of sips of cafe au lait from the Cafe du Monde in New Orleans. (Actually, I just go there to eat the beignets. In fact, that's one of the few good things I've found in New Orleans. Just don't breathe in when taking a bite or you'll choke on the powdered sugar. It's not a pretty sight. Again, I know.) or some of the flavored Gevalia stuff. Now, back to the story. So if I don't drink coffee, that kind of limits my choices at Starbucks. Which is fine with me. Anyway, this girl says to me, "Have you tried the blah, blah, blah with a just a little blah, blah in it." Now, I include the language "blah, blah" because once she gets into the sentence of "have you tried," I zone her out. I don't want to try the blah, blah, blah with a pince of blah, blah.
Oh, Jim. C'mon! Try something different. You've got to live a little. You'd like it. See? You've fallen into the trap. It's the same thing Satan does. Peter thought he'd help Jesus out when he told Him to quit talking of His impending fate. Jesus said, "Get behind me, Satan! You are a stumbling block to me; you do not have in mind the things of God, but the things of men." (Matthew 16:23) Jesus had the routine down. He knew what was to happen. Then someone came in and said, "Have you tried blah, blah, blah?"
It happens to you all the time. You're following the Lord the best you know how. You journey is going upward. You think you've go it figured out. Then someone says, "Have you tried this?" The rub is in what your reaction is. Then the next thing you know, you're going the opposite direction of what you intended. Oh, Satan's good at it. What we have to do is to learn how to zone him out and only hear, "Have you tried blah, blah, blah." The secret is in knowing the Shepherd's voice. There are a lot of voices out there. But the sheep know the Shepherd. Next time Satan tries to get you to try the other stuff, zone him out. Listen for the Good Shepherd.
And by the way, put that cup of coffee down. It's bad for you. Try some chai. Have a great day. JW