“If you knew the gift of God and who it is that asks you for a drink, you would have asked him and he would have given you living water.” – John 4:10
A few years back, a popular Christian tee shirt compared Jesus to Coke. It said, “Jesus: He’s the real thing.” It was cute, as far as it goes. Not life changing, but cute.
Then I heard a minister compare the life-giving water of Jesus to a can of Coke, or any soft drink. He said Jesus was a pure relationship with God, while a soft drink was a relationship with man-made additives. One was pure relationship and one was mostly religious. Well, he had my attention.
Water, as opposed to your favorite soft drink, is necessary for life. We must have water in order to live. We drink it and wash with it. Water is a lubricant, dispels heat and sustains life, supports digestion, makes things soft and aids in eliminating waste. All life on this planet needs water to live. Water is indispensable, and the need for water has been the force behind more than one war.
A soft drink, however, with all its fancy ingredients, is necessary for nothing. We cannot bathe in it, use it to brush our teeth or add it to our radiator to displace heat. We can’t water the lawn with it and no one would use it wipe down a dirty table or wash their clothes. A soft drink is mostly water with various additives; and none of these additives is necessary for an efficient and effective life.
Here’s the part that bothers me. 
Instead of focusing my life on the pure, life-giving living water of Jesus, I’ve often focused too much of my time on the additives. And when we add stuff to Jesus, we limit His effectiveness.
