A Thirst for the Real Thing

Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, For they shall be filled.—Matthew 5:6

New Coke was the unofficial name of the sweeter drink introduced in 1985 by The Coca-Cola Company to replace its flagship soda, Coca-Cola or Coke. Public reaction to the change was devastating, and the new cola quickly entered the pantheon of major marketing flops.

In the Summer of 1985, I traveled with my youth group to the Smokey Mountains. We made the trip on a bus with no air conditioner. On our trip home, we stopped at a Country Store for refreshments. At this store, I had the opportunity to purchase the Classic Coca-Cola that was reintroduced after the NEW COKE had been rejected. The taste of this familiar Coke formula was so satisfying. I will never forget how much I enjoyed that cold Classic Coca-Cola—The Real Thing. I rejected the taste of the new formula because I had tasted the original formula for so long and could recognize a difference.

"There is a twist to this story which will please every humanist and will probably keep Harvard professors puzzled for years," said Donald Keough, president and chief operating officer of Coca-Cola, at a press conference. "The simple fact is that all the time and money and skill poured into consumer research on the new Coca-Cola could not measure or reveal the deep and abiding emotional attachment to original Coca-Cola felt by so many people."

In our spiritual lives, the more we partake of the things of God the more we will desire. The more we pray, the more we will desire to pray. That’s why we don’t need to wait until we “feel like” praying. We will not have a desire to pray until we have faithfully pressed on in prayer. The more I pray, the hungrier I will be for time with God. If I’m not yearning to pray, I haven’t been praying enough.