If you've known me for long enough, chances are you've heard about my idea for a new type of bottled water. I would call it: Hose Water.

Dream with me for a moment.

You're feeling discouraged about the bummer of a week you just had. Your dog is sick, you accidentally gained 20 pounds, and Joe Rogan won't respond to you on Instagram. Then you pick up a bottle of Hose Water - BOOM. Everything changes.

You feel life begin to flow through your veins. The American, rub-dirt-on-it spirit rises up inside of you. You can do this. You've been knocked down before, and with the help of Hose Water, you're getting back up!

Hose Water. Bottled, mineral water flavored with the taste of the American childhood: A green, rubber garden hose that's been baking in the sun for multiple generations.

Life is good: Drink out of the hose. (That's the tagline).

Powerful imagery, I know. But unfortunately, I am still waiting to hear back about my Shark Tank audition.

Like many of us, I grew up drinking water from the hose on hot summer days. And for anyone else who has drank water from the hose, we all know the simple, scientific explanation of how the water didn't kill us or get us sick:

The germs can't go into the hose when water is coming out! So simple! So obvious! Germs can't swim upstream; therefore, the water that comes out is totally fine to drink. I'm not really sure how scientific this idea is, but it was good enough for us at the time.

This principle is precisely what Jesus was talking about in John 7. He tells us that those who come to Him will never thirst again. He goes so far as to say that we would become so unthirsty that He would actually start producing a flow of living water that would gush out of us. This flow would pour out into the relationships that make up our world.

My observation is that most folks come to Church and then eventually get busy trying to fix themselves in the name of Jesus. I would imagine all of us get caught up in this at some point. We desire to be holy, which is a good thing, but we try in our power and ability. We create a religious worldview to keep the germs out and keep us from encountering germs. The problem is we find ourselves surrounded by people who look like us, talk like us, believe like us, and are germ-free like us.

In Matthew 15:11, Jesus teaches us that what defiles us is what comes out of our hearts. Evil thinking, murder, adultery, sexual sin, stealing, lying, and speaking curses. It makes sense that Jesus would give us rivers of living water to pour out of us.

If living water is flowing out, then the germs of this world can't get in. Like the hose water. Get it?

The point is to focus on drinking deep from the Son of God. A continuous flow of God's Spirit coming from the inside out is the only true way to walk in righteousness and true fulfillment. You'll also steer clear of all the religious baggage that comes along with trying to fix yourself in the Name of Jesus.