My family has a tradition of going out to eat after church on Sundays. And this one particular Sunday we went to Macaroni Grill. Of course, when you go to a restaurant, one of the first things the waiter/waitress does is take your drink order. As I was drinking my soda I sat there starring at my straw and I realized you can learn a lot from a straw.
The first lesson we can learn from the straw is to not let anyone take away from us. A straw does one thing, subtracts from whatever it is in. When we use a straw we are taking away from the substance inside the cup. We need to watch who we allow in our lives…we need to watch our company. We should be making sure that those around us don’t subtract but add to us. Proverbs 17:17 tells us that a friend is always loyal. There are three types of friends: there are friends that always take, take and take and never give; there are friends that share a weakness and feed off of each other’s weaknesses; and then, there are friends that equally give and put into the friendship. Our friendship(s) should be mutually beneficial…a two way street. There should be a constant impartation from one friend to the other.
Another thing we can learn from the straw is to not bend or bow, but to stand firm in our belief. Something I noticed about the straw is that it easily bends. A straw can be bent more than one time, easily, without effort. As Christians, we should be the opposite. We should stand firm in what we believe. 1 Peter 5:9 instructs us to stand firm in our faith. This is tied into faith…we need to increase our faith. If God says that He is going to do something, we should not bend. Hebrews 11:6 says, “It's impossible to please God apart from faith. And why? Because anyone who wants to approach God must believe both that he exists and that he cares enough to respond to those who seek him.” And this also means we should not bow down to the things of the world.
The final lesson we can learn from the straw is not to always depend and/or be with someone. The straw can not function unless it is inside of the cup. The straw can not even stand up on its own unless it’s in the cup. Without the cup, without anything to drink the straw is useless….it can not do anything on its own. In this instance we should NOT be like the straw. We should not feel the need to be around someone in order to function, we should not be so pressed that we need the confirmation from a man (or woman). Instead, we should be leaning and trusting in Jesus. The Bible says in 2 Peter 1:3, that as “we grow in our knowledge of God, through his divine power he gives us everything we need for life and godliness.” If we are going to depend on anyone it should be the Lord. If we should long to be with anyone, it should be Jesus. 1 Peter 5:7 says, “Let Him have all your worries and cares, for He is always thinking about you and watching everything that concerns you.”
Hopefully when you look at a straw from now on when you, I hope this lesson will come back to your mind…you can truly learn lessons from a straw!
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