What is keeping you from pouring out blessing?

This morning, I made the worst pot of coffee.  

It was bad, really bad. Over the past month or so, my coffee pot started drinking water.  Seriously.  I'd grind the coffee beans, put them in the filter, and pour in eight cups of water.  But, I wouldn't end up with eight cups of coffee.  Rather with six cups, and then four.  And then this morning I only ended up with two cups of coffee.

And it was bad. Weak. Bitter.  Really bad.

When I complained to my husband and wondered if I might get a Keurig out of this tragedy, he said, "Cindy, I think you just need to clean the coffee maker."

Over these months of ever-decreasing coffee production, it had not once occurred to me to clean the coffee maker.  Shocking, I know.

So, I started running white vinegar through the coffee maker.  The first time I ran four cups of vinegar, one pot cup came out.  But, as I ran pot after pot of vinegar, I noticed that the same amount of vinegar I put in ended up in the pot.  Yes!

But, another interesting thing happened.  I put clear vinegar in the top of the maker, and then greenish-bluish vinegar ended up in the pot.  Greenish-bluish vinegar.  Gross.

I called Bunn on this one.  They told me that most likely it was just impurities that needed to be flushed out.  Yuck, right?  No wonder my coffee tasted so bad!

Eventually I ran a whole gallon of white vinegar through that coffee maker.

By the time I left to pick up kids from school, the house smelled like a pickle factory, but crystal clear water was running through the coffee maker.  And if I put four cups of water in the coffee maker, four cups of water ended up in the pot.  Yey!

So all this white vinegar, impurities, and bad-tasting coffee got me thinking.

What is clogging up my spirit?  The Lord is pouring so many blessings into my life, not just material blessings, but deep, rich spiritual blessings.  How is it possible that I can go from having precious fellowship with Jesus to snapping at my kids?  What is keeping me from pouring spiritual blessings back out on my children, my husband?  What is clogging me up and turning crystal clear living water into something much less lovely?  

And then I thought of this:

Since, then, you have been raised with Christ, set your hearts on things above, where Christ is, seated at the right hand of God.  Set your minds on things above, not on earthly things.  For you died and your life is now hidden with Christ in God.  When Christ, who is your life, appears, then you will also appear with him in glory.

Put to death, therefore, whatever belongs to your earthly nature:  sexual immorality, impurity, lust, evil desires and greed, which is idolatry.  Because of these the wrath of God is coming.  

You used to walk in these ways, in the life you once lived.  But now you must rid yourselves of all such things as these:  anger, rage, malice, slander, and filthy language from your lips.  Do not lie to each other, since you have taken off your old self with its practices and have put on the new self which is being renewed in knowledge in the image of its Creator.  Colossians 3:1-10

My coffee-maker's clean now.  I'm guessing I'm going to have a great cup of coffee in the morning.  But before then, I'm going to take a little inventory and see if there's anything clogging up my spirit, keeping me from pouring out blessing into the lives of my husband and children. Want to fix a cup of coffee and join me?