Coke

When I was in 7^th grade, I was hired for my first “real” job…or was it 8^th grade?...hmmm

When I was in Jr. High, I was hired for my first “real” job.  By real job, I mean, a job where someone aside from my parents, approached me to do work for them. They would pay me a certain sum of money for the work that I would do…i.e. “real job.”   Sure, I had some “pretend” jobs, where my dad would talk to people he knew, and the next thing I knew, I was taking bales of hay in 90+ degree weather from a field and placing them on a hay wagon…too slowly for the farmer…or cutting thistles that would grow back in a couple of weeks.  In one of the “non-real-job” situations…the farmer actually discounted my pay because he fed me a bologna sandwich…that must have been some expensive bologna.

My first “real” job was to rake my art teacher’s yard for $50.  I hadn’t seen $50, let alone, earned $50.  Ironically, my elementary age children, have more money saved up from one birthday, than I had all the way through Jr. High…that’s depressing.  Each day, after school, my teacher would drive me to her house.  Before I would start with the raking, she would give me an ice cold Coke.  Wow! Those were good! In fact, on hot summer days, I still find myself, occasionally, craving an ice cold Coke and thinking about that first job.  This went on for more than 2 weeks!  It wasn’t that big of a yard, but I was really scraping it clean.  When it was all said and done…I put in 21 hours of raking.  Years later I did the math…that was $2.38 per hour.  That’s less than babysitter wages.

I remember the Cocoa Colas the most though…They were so good…but wouldn’t you know it…at the end of each work day, I think I was thirstier than I had been before I had started.  In fact, I found myself craving and wishing that there would be another Coke upon the completion of the day’s work…maybe, just maybe, another Coke would satisfy my thirst.  I find it interesting, how I could ever expect anything, with that much sodium, to quench a thirst.  Yet, on hot summer days, when I am feeling thirsty…I often find myself drawn to things that will never truly satisfy any thirst that I may be experiencing.

There is a story in the Gospel of John, where Jesus meets a woman who is coming to draw water from a nearby well.  Jesus is thirsty and asks her for a drink.  Through the conversation, Jesus offers her something that will satisfy her deepest thirsts…thirsts, which she wasn’t even aware that she was yearning for.  In the climax of the story, we find Jesus revealing himself to her as the promised Messiah and the one who can truly provide her with the life she is yearning for.

What are you thirsty for? What is your heart yearning for? Don’t be deceived into thinking that you will find satisfaction in a “Coke.”  There is only one way to find a truly satisfying life…and eternal life...and that is in Jesus.