On This Day In History
July 11

By Dianne Neal Matthews
Guest Writer

CBN.com - On this day in 1985, the Coca-Cola Company announced the return of the original formula for its flagship soft drink, now to be called Coca-Cola Classic. Two network newscasts featured the announcement as their major story of that day, and it appeared on the front page of amost every prominent newspaper in the country. Company executives expressed surprise at the bond consumers felt with their drink and their outrage when the manufacturer tampered with it.

In April 1985, the Coca-Cola Company had introduced a new, sweeter version called New Coke. Although tast tests of two hundred thousand consumers had indicated a preference for the new formula, change brought a public outcry. By June, fifteen hundred calls a day flooded the company's consumer hotline, compared to four hundred a day before the change. Some consumers panicked and hoarded cases of the old Coke in their basement until the company announced it would continue to manufacture the original Coke.

Throughout history people have tried to substitute a new "formula" for God's truth. Jesus criticized the religious leaders of his day for abandoning God's commands and teaching rules made by men instead. He called them hypocrites because they made an outward show of worshipping God but focuses on their own traditions rather than worshipping him from their heart (Mark 7:6-8).

Many churches today do the same thing. Sometimes churches focus on rituals, rules, social causes, or entertainment more than the Word of God and its message of salvation. These things may be good and useful, but they become evil when they replace God's Word. Whenever anyone tampers with God's Word, there should be an outcry. It's the only "formula" that thas the power to change lives. Only God's Word is "the real thing."

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