Just like Vodka
I woke up this morning with vodka on my mind – don’t ask!
I was thinking about how much our lives are like vodka, at least mine is…
Vodka Facts:
Vodka can be made out of pretty much anything, just like us. People come from all walks of life with differing kinds of heritage both natural and spiritual.
And just like vodka we are put through a rigorous process of filtration. The only difference between cheap and expensive vodka is the number of times it’s been filtered, or purified. Really expensive stuff, Grey Goose – again, don’t ask – is purified at least five times.
I guess if I was vodka, I’d be pretty expensive because I’m in a constant process of filtration and purification. God, through circumstances and relationships, is always at work in my life filtering out impurities.
The really good stuff is supposed to just taste pure, refreshing, actually. I think our lives should be like that as well. People should be able to taste our lives and be refreshed by our un-polluted flavor.
More Vodka Facts:
Did you know that vodka could be made from cucumber, potato, tomato, corn, sorghum, rice, beets, grapes, again pretty much anything? And the goal of the distillation process is to filter out as much of its original taste as possible in order to reduce it down to its the purest state – alcohol.
But no matter how many times you filter it, you can never get what or where it comes from out of the flavor. There is a distinction of flavors based on the original crop and where the original crop was grown. For instance, there’s a difference in the flavor of vodka made from potatoes and that made from grapes, and there’s a difference in the flavor of sorghum vodka made in the United States and that, which is bottled in the Netherlands – one more time, just stop asking how I know this stuff…
Isn’t this kind of the way we are as well? We get purified again and again, but we are always flavored with where we come from. That’s what makes our lives distinct and our own brands unique. No matter how much we pride ourselves in our purity, we remain with just a little of our original residue. This reminds of the disciples who stood in the courtyard warming themselves at the fire as Jesus was being interrogated. The people around them knew they too were from Nazareth because “their speech betrayed them” (Matt 26:73).
One last interesting Vodka fact:
Many mixed drinks have vodka as their base because it blends so well with everything, though vodka can certainly be enjoyed on it’s own. In our lives, God should be able to add us to any group of people in order enhance their flavor, but we should also be fully content to be on our own, enjoying the freshness of the purification that’s been done in our lives.
O.K. - if you don’t like my analogy, what do you think we taste like? And don’t say Jesus, that’s too easy…
