Consider the following:
There was a single family that lived in a vast land. In the center of the land was a large spring that provided an abundance of crystal-clear water, pure to drink. There were many other springs scattered throughout the land that were also clean to drink. But one night an enemy came and ruined many of the wells, poisoning them and rendering the water impure.
When the family discovered what had happened, the mother and father, went out to investigate. After a careful analysis a map was made denoting the wells that were no longer clean to drink. The mother and father shared this map with the rest of the family. Since the land was so vast, the mother and father disclosed to the family that the poisoned wells could still be used, but only sparingly. An overuse of unclean water without a threefold intake of clean water would lead to death. “Use only unclean water sparingly, take small sips to quench your thirst until you can take large droughts of clean water which will purify your system and flush out the toxins. Most importantly, make frequent visits to the central spring. That water cannot be defiled and even in small amounts can purify much.”
Some in the family soon forgot the words of the parents. Of these, some persisted for awhile yet eventually fell to the poison of the enemy. Others, though slowly dying, remembered the words of the parents and went to the central spring, drinking only from clean wells on their way. These family members were restored to full health.
Other members of the family only partially took the parents’ advice. They drank much from the clean wells, but much also from the unclean wells. And they forgot about the importance of the central spring, rarely drinking from it. Therefore, their health was in constant flux, never truly healthy but never reaching death.
Some members of the family took full heed of the words that they learned. They drank often and deeply from the central spring. They never concerned if they had to sip or drink from poisoned wells at times. For they always returned to the central spring and its incredible purity constantly restored them to amazing health. And the goodness of the pure water eventually left them with a taste only for pure water.