Sweet Tea, Please

In the South, making iced tea is a time honored tradition. Southerners know the secrets to making really good iced tea, and that is good thing as August days in the South are hot and sultry. We have a new method for brewing sweet the in our home. Tea bags are first placed in the tea pitcher, held in place by a clip. Water is boiled in a whistling tea kettle, and then poured over the tea bags. Next, we add three scoops of sugar, stir and leave the spoon in the pitcher. The spoon in the pitcher is a signal to other family members that sugar has been added, lest the tea be sweetened twice or not at all. Additional water is boiled and poured in to fill the pitcher. Boiling water adds oxygen to the water, releasing the flavor of the tea, but, it is the steeping process -- leaving the tea bags in the hot water for a few minutes -- that really saturates the water with the flavor of tea.

Just as water becomes saturated with the flavor of the tea, our lives can be steeped in the Word of God. "Let the Word of Christ dwell in you richly in all wisdom; teaching and admonishing one another in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing with grace in your hearts to the Lord." (Col. 3:16) Everyone is steeped in something. If we are not steeped in God's Word through bible reading, study and memorization, and through the hearing of God's Word, then we can easily be steeped in the empty philosophy of our culture.

Enjoy a glass of iced tea. Practice hospitality and share it with a friend. And, be steeped in the Word of God.