Birchall's English Breakfast Tea

I was pleased to discover a new brand of tea: Birchall. The company operates from a gigantic, solar-powered factory in sunny Wiltshire. Despite its penchant for the latest technology, its founder was one Birchall George Graham, a suitably moustachioed captain in Queen Victoria’s army in India, serving in the Duke of Wellington’s Regiment. Little wonder I enjoyed its taste.

I drank their English Breakfast tea during my stay in the county of Durham, and found it most pleasant. Curiously, there are instructions accompanying the tea bag which state-

Infuse at 100 degrees C for 2 minutes

-which is presumably aimed at those individuals too tight or foolish to boil a kettle.

In reality, boiled water drops its temperature the moment it pours. By the time it reaches the bottom of the cup, it will be in the 90s, and every few seconds it cools further. This is to our benefit of course; tea must cool to a suitable temperature if our lips, throats and innards are not to suffer scolding or melting. It is also true that if one places a finger in a recently poured cup of tea, even after a few minutes' standing, it will still hurt; meditating upon the difference in temperature between boiling water and merely hot water will offer scant comfort to that reddened, painful digit.

I know several Christians who have cooled. Once they were enthusiastic and loved the Lord and served in His church; now they are characterised by apathy, lethargy and indifference. Assuming they were truly converted, one wonders why they have gone off-boil, adapting to the temperature of their surroundings. For such a one, here is the Lord’s warning:

I know thy works, that thou art neither cold nor hot: I would thou wert cold or hot. So then because thou art lukewarm, and neither cold nor hot, I will spue thee out of my mouth. Revelation 3:15-16, King James Version

Do you find these words to be chilling? If you don't, it is because you are spiritually dead already. Go and brew a cup of tea, and think on.