Go-Go Juice
Listen to counsel and receive instruction, that you may be wise all your latter days.
Prov. 19:20, NKJV.
I USED TO DRINK a lot of coffee. By the time I went to university I was accustomed to drinking four pots every day-something like 24 cups! While not everyone puts away 24 cups of coffee, North Americans consume a total of more than 35 million pounds every year. Add to this the millions of cans of caffeinated soda consumed a day and you begin to realize that North America is facing a major public health problem-caffeine addiction!
Doctors are beginning to tell patients to kick the caffeine habit, and for good reason. Caffeine has no nutritional value but it's linked to sleep disorders, headaches, high blood pressure and tension, irregular heartbeat, memory loss, tremors, and convulsions. Some studies seem to indicate that it acts as a catalyst for carcinogens, increasing the odds of getting cancer.
Dr. Jan W. Kuzma, in his book Live Ten Healthy Years Longer, mentions an interesting study done on typists. A group of typists was set up who had used no caffeine for two weeks. Their typing was accurate, and they correctly estimated their speed. Then each participant drank two cups of coffee. Their accuracy decreased considerably. However, in their self-evaluations they thought they were doing much better in speed and accuracy then when they had not used caffeine.
So much for the idea that caffeine improves one's performance! On a construction site where I once worked, we used to call coffee "go-go juice," because everybody assumed that it improved our ability to get things done. It turns out that the only thing it improved was our self estimate.
Satan is eager to tempt us with all kinds of "go-go juices" that mask our real sinful condition and make us think we're better than we are. Caffeinated drinks are not the only substances on his illusionary buffet table. There's also alcohol, tobacco, and drugs that alter moods and dull perceptions. When we're under the illusion that our performance is improved, there is no reason to repent, no reason to turn from evil, and no sense of need for the saving grace of God.
Say goodbye "go-go juice"; kick the habit-even if you're going to have to endure a few days of painful withdrawal symptoms-and say hello to the best drink on earth: a cool, clear cup of water.
Lord, help me avoid any substance that clouds my thinking, so that I may perceive accurately what your Holy Spirit is trying to communicate to me. TOP
SHAWN BOONSTRA
Reading from Fit Forever. Kay Kuzma, Editor, copyright 2005 Review and Herald Publishing Association Used with Permission.