Takashi: Gunships From the Motherland

Living water

Last week I gave up soft drinks, of all varieties, and yes, even the dearest of all to me, sweet tea. Why, you may ask? To save dear Caroline from the evils of diet sodas. I used to be so proud of her, drinking tons and tons of waa waa. Now, due to the influences she encountered during the summer, she drinks too much diet. Well, she did anyway.
So I told her to stop. Of course, as well she should have, she laughed at me and said no. Then we struck up a deal. She'd give up soft drinks of all kinds if I would. Actually give up ANY kind of drink, except for the following:
-100% juice
-Coffee (sweetened with sugar or Splenda ONLY)
-Milk
-and of course, Water.

For those of you that don't know, I detest water. The only time I comfortably drink water is when I'm REALLY thirsty, like at the gym or something (yes I actually go to the gym, STOP SNICKERING!!!) When we first started last Wednesday, I made this involuntary face of disgust with every swallow I took. It was interesting that while I would normally go though 2 glasses of sweet tea with my meal, I only drank half a glass of water. Since then, however, the taste of water has grown on me. It's strange. I chug the stuff already. Like dear old Stewart said, after a while of drinking water, soft drinks begin to lose their appeal. They won't taste as good because you know how bad they are for you.
Now, I've not even been on this stuff for a week, so I could probably go back to Coke with no problem, but the fact that I can already tell the difference is encouraging. I expect that if I do try this for long enough I will reach a point where I don't really want soft drinks at all anymore. What's hard isn't enjoying the water, it's just hard to break away from the bad habit.

That's the way I feel about seeking radical faith too. A lot of times I think that Christians look at other Christians who are, by most people's standards, radically into their faith, and they tend to put them in the crazy box of sorts. They do this as a natural defense for the way they are comfortable living. I know I do, all the time. The idea of jumping into "radical" devotion seems worrisome because it means giving up so many comforts of the day. Some things which are sinful and openly bad, others just comforts that seem innocent, but may really be keeping you from being the person you know you need to be. There is comfort in sameness, so if you are used to the bad stuff...moving to the good stuff is extremely difficult.
Like a bad caffeine headache when you start on water, doing what is right feels so wrong. The question keeps arising, will I find a joy in this that I once found in the other? Doubt can be a powerful persuader and before you know it your suckling at the Pepsi fountain again. Then you realize you've spent the majority of your life in a constant struggle between the Soda bottle and the water fountain. If only we had never been given the first sip of sweet Tea, we wouldn't have a problem, but by the same token, would we appreciate the benefits of the water as much? So many questions but regardless, we know...

"If anyone thirsts, let him come to Me and drink. He who believes in Me, as the Scripture has said, out of his heart will flow rivers of living water." ~John 7:38