The "Universe"

I grabbed some tea one morning and glanced at the tag as I poured my hot water from the electric kettle. 

UFFDA!!

[If you're not a Norwegian-American, it's difficult to fully translate that exclamation - pronounced "OOF-duh". It is very flexible and suits many situations. In this case, it expresses a combination of: "Man... I can't believe what I'm seeing... Wow... That's terrible... and sad."]

Tea bag tag: "Empty yourself and let the universe fill you."

I've been running across more of this belief in am impersonal, powerful "Universe" lately. People are so desperate to get rid of God, but they still sense there has to be something bigger than them. So they resort to some pretty scary stuff.

Do you know what can happen when you just "empty yourself?" You certainly won't stay empty for long.  And you might not like what comes along to fill you.

The Bible describes the "ruler of the kingdom of the air" (sounds a bit like "the universe") who runs (and ruins) the lives of the disobedient and sinners. (Ephesians 2) He would love to fill us if we give him the chance. 

Jesus shares a chilling illustration of this in Matthew 12:

"When an evil spirit comes out of a man, it goes through arid places seeking rest and does not find it. Then it says, 'I will return to the house I left.' When it arrives, it finds the house unoccupied, swept clean and put in order. Then it goes and takes with it seven other spirits more wicked than itself, and they go in and live there. And the final condition of that man is worse than the first."

 To combat this dangerous situation, the apostle Paul reminded his friends in Ephesus (Eph. 4:20-24) that when you...

1. Put off your old self, which is being corrupted by its deceitful desires

 ... then you must...

2. Be made new in the attitude of your minds

... and don't forget to...

3. Put on the new self, created to be like God in true righteousness and holiness.

 Just a few thoughts from a tea bag.