What gets you up in the morning? For many American adults who lived in the late 80’s and early 90’s it was a cup of fresh brewed Folgers coffee. Last year Folgers celebrated 25 years of their jingle “The Best Part of Waking up is Folgers in Your Cup” which had become one of the most memorable and recognizable pieces of advertising in America, traditionally the largest market for coffee in the world. In honor of the silver celebration the company had encouraged young singers and musicians of the next generation to come up with a memorable contemporary rendition of the cult classic ad. Today in an age where Starbucks has nearly eradicated all competitors in the caffeine sector it is hard to think that people actually enjoyed waking up and brewing coffee from a can at home! Although Folgers has now become an irrelevant product of our past (except for traditional church coffee break times!) their advertising still remains the concept motivation behind consumer product development today. What can we make that gets a person up in the morning? What element of a person’s day can we exalt to the place of priority, purpose, and urgency? I often sit at my local Starbucks doing my work and see hundreds, nearly a thousand people, walk in like clockwork for their regular morning shot of brew. That’s marketing success at its best!

What jingle would you say motivates you to get up in the morning? What gives you purpose, vision, and urgency in this life? Is it your addiction to caffeine, your pursuit of education, the drive for success at your job, or the responsibilities of family that brings meaning to life? All of the above are necessary and have their place but there is only one perfect motivation for our lives to waking up which is the gospel of Jesus Christ! That good news jingle is unlike anything else for it starts with God and not you. It begins with His demonstration of undeserved love bestowed on us, completely, perfectly, and without any strings of life change or payback accepted. And it ends fully and finally with our curse and debt of sin cast aside regardless of our final tally of rights and wrongs we have done. It has been replaced by a new system, a new covenant, where Jesus’ rights and rights (righteousness) have taken over (Rm 5:17; 8:10; Phil 3:9). No longer do you need to open your eyes in the morning to bear the burden of guilt, shame, and fear weighing your heart down. All that stuff can be taken to the cross and crucified for God only sees the rights of Jesus now! There is no other song that is sweeter, friends!

Those who have been transformed by the love of God in Jesus Christ can wake up each morning with an everlasting ‘Jesus Jingle’, if you allow me! We can pursue our work, our education, our families, our church, and our cup of coffee with joy because we no longer have anything to prove. We share this jingle with all of those who have put their trust in Jesus. We gather together as many times as we can with those that share this eternal ‘song of the heart’ to worship the heavenly Songwriter. This song should motivate us to be the Church together. We love one another only because God has first loved us (1 Jn 4:19) and that love is sacrificial, self-giving, and provoking others to do the same (Heb 10:35). We have confidence in Christ as eternally accepted sons and daughters by the love of God to courageously be the Church. Let us pursue God’s glory together!

For Your Reflection:

1. What gets me up in the morning?
2. How can I reset my mind each morning to sing the ‘Jesus Jingle’ (gospel)?
3. In what area(s) of my life do I need to apply the gospel – to change, forgive, confess, or accept – that would demonstrate God’s love?
4. Who in my life could use a fresh demonstration of God’s undeserved love? List some names and ways to do this.