Serendipitous Thoughts by Sugar Bear
"I Don’t Drink Beer"
“Lord, to whom shall we go? You have the words of eternal life.” John 6:68
The title says, “I Don’t Drink Beer,” but this message is not really about beer. It is about how easily we hear one word and miss the witness.
We hear beer, and we stop listening. We hear Republican, Democrat, conservative, liberal, Black, white, Christian, atheist, immigrant, or citizen and sometimes we decide that we already know the whole person.
We hear the surface and miss the soul. We see the label and miss the life.
That is why some of us need spiritual hearing aids.
Spiritual hearing means slowing down long enough to hear what God is saying and what our neighbor is truly trying to tell us.
Too often, we sit at life’s table with God’s Word in front of us, but we sip everything else first. We sip anger, fear, resentment, pride, cable news, and social media. Then we wonder why our spirits feel dizzy.
In John 6, many people walked away from Jesus because His teaching was difficult. Jesus asked His disciples whether they would leave too.
Peter answered, “Lord, to whom shall we go? You have the words of eternal life.”
Peter understood that when every other voice confuses us, Jesus still speaks life.
A courageous citizen listens differently. Consider this question:
“If the last five years of your life were a chapter in a book, what would the title be, and what would it be about?”
That question can uncover grief, growth, disappointment, faith, struggle, and hope. But even the best question becomes empty when nobody truly listens.
Isaiah 40 reminds us that nations are like a drop in a bucket before God. Leaders rise and fall. Parties win and lose. Political movements come and go. But the Lord remains.
We must also remember history without becoming imprisoned by it.
Hosea warns that people are destroyed for lack of knowledge. When we forget history, old sins often return wearing new clothes.
My Grandma would say, “Ronnie, remember the wounds, but don’t worship the wound.”
Tell the truth. Honor the pain. Teach the next generation. But do not build your home inside yesterday’s hurt.
Galatians 5 warns that when we bite and devour one another, we may destroy one another.
That happens when we stop seeing human beings and see only competing tribes.
So let us ask ourselves:
Am I willing to hear your chapter before I judge your whole book?
Lord, adjust our hearing. Help us hear Your Word before fear, our neighbor’s story before the label, and love before judgment.
Christ is our Savior. History is our teacher. Listening is our discipline. Love is our assignment as courageous citizens of God.
God bless you and this ministry!
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