Coke is a brand that is recognized by 94% of the world’s population. It is sold in over 200 countries. As a brand it is worth more than $74 billion dollars – that’s more than Budweiser, Pepsi, Starbucks and Red Bull combined. Total annual sales of Coca-Cola’s beverages is over $35 billion annually, making it the 84th largest economy in the world.
There are 1.7 billion servings of Coke consumed every day. Americans drink an overage of 399 servings of Coke per person each year. Mexicans drink an average of 665 servings of Coke per person annually.
One can of Coke contains 39 grams of sugar and 140 calories. Excessive consumption of Coke can lead to diabetes, heart disease, obesity, tooth decay, decreased sperm count, decreased bone calcium levels and numerous other health issues. One can of Coke each day increases the risk of blood sugar level problems by 25%.
Studies on the negative health effects of Coke, and other similar carbonated beverages – pop, are myriad. One thing is certain: the risk of negative health effects are far greater from drinking pop than from drinking clean water.
Our bodies are approximately 60% water. We need water to survive and to thrive. Without water we die. We can live for weeks without food, we can only live for days without water. Even slight dehydration can impact brain function, bodily functions and physical performance. Water is a critical compound for our health and well-being.
We do not need pop to survive and thrive.
The stark contrast between these two beverages is dramatic. One could arguably say that water is life, pop is death. Certainly solely consuming pop and no water will lead to health defects that will shorten your life expectancy.
I believe this is the fundamental life choice we face: will we choose to consume the Living Water we need to survive and thrive, or will we consume the things of the world that may taste good and give us momentary pleasure, but will ultimately lead to our spiritual death?
So, what do you imbibe? Are you drinking the Living Water that Jesus has offered us, or are you imbibing the things of the world that give you momentary pleasure, but are killing you? Do you look to Jesus and His Word for life, or do you look elsewhere?
Do you believe that Jesus is your only source of life, or do you believe you can find life elsewhere?
Many years ago when I was in the midst of the Lord’s refining fires I was sitting alone in the dark one night just wanting everything to change. I wanted my life to get better. I began to think that the best thing I could do was run away. I’d just get in my car and drive away. I could leave all my troubles behind.
Of course, this was a ridiculous plan, but I really thought running away would make things better. But as I was fantasizing about what that could look like the Lord whispered a life-altering insight into my heart,
“You still believe you can find life apart from Me.”
I believed that running away from my life and its difficulties would lead to life. I had not firmly settled the issue that life is found in only one place – Jesus. If I was not running to Jesus I was running away from Him.
When you are hurting, when you are discouraged, when you are scared, when you are overwhelmed, when you are anxious, when you are hopeless do you run to Jesus and drink deeply from the life He offers us, or do you go to the things of this world for life?
This situation is described in Jeremiah 2:13
“My people have committed two sins: They have forsaken me, the spring of living water, and have dug their own cisterns, broken cisterns that cannot hold water.”
God invites us to drink deeply of the Living Water He offers us, but we oftentimes choose to drink the “pop” of this world that will ultimately kill us. Jesus is our only source of life.
Pop or water – what will you choose?
John 4:14
“but whoever drinks the water I give them will never thirst. Indeed, the water I give them will become in them a spring of water welling up to eternal life.”
Jeremiah 17:13
Lord, you are the hope of Israel; all who forsake you will be put to shame. Those who turn away from you will be written in the dust because they have forsaken the Lord, the spring of living water.
John 7:38
“Whoever believes in me, as Scripture has said, rivers of living water will flow from within them.”
Isaiah 55: 1, 2
“Come, all you who are thirsty, come to the waters; and you who have no money, come, buy and eat!
Come, buy wine and milk without money and without cost. Why spend money on what is not bread, and your labor on what does not satisfy? Listen, listen to me, and eat what is good, and you will delight in the richest of fare.”