Jeremiah 2:13
For my people have committed two evils: they have forsaken me the fountain of living waters to hew them out cisterns, broken cisterns, that can hold no water.
“A cistern is a large well or pool carved in a rock. A broken cistern has sprung a leak and can’t hold water.
“If you go out there to the world and drink from that well, it is not going to satisfy you.”
It sets my mind to wonder.
Why would anyone place her trust in the unstable, un-powerful, unfulfilling things of the earth when she can place her trust in a stable, powerful, satisfying God? Seems like such a no-brainer – yet, don’t you and I do that all the time?
Sure we do.
We dig our own cisterns, broken cisterns, and expect them to satisfy our thirst and bring us contentment. We drink from the broken cisterns of materialism, position, wealth, popularity, stuff, relationships, rules, and religion. We have faulty expectations that our kids, spouses, and friends are meant to satisfy our heart needs. The ultimately broken cistern, however, is our pursuit of purpose in life via things of this earth.
We were created to pursue God.
We were created to know God – to be satisfied in Him and Him alone.
To worship Him and Him alone.
Even as believers, we deal with emptiness and bow to idols other than God. We place our faith in the economy, our financial situations, our health, our employment status, our marital status, and our relationships. When they fail or fumble we fall apart … and no wonder! They are all broken cisterns and were never meant to be our source of hope or satisfaction!
Friend, we need to turn away from our broken cisterns and turn toward the springs of living water. From stagnant waters to Living Water. The Bible tells us that confession is the path to the spring of living water. When we eliminate the things that clutter our faith – the broken things we trust in – and place our faith in the resurrection power of Jesus Christ, God’s heart swells with mercy, compassion, and grace toward us. He forgives and strengthens us.
Who or what are you trusting today?
Where are you soul-drinking from broken cisterns or springs of living water?
When Jeremiah was preparing to take God’s message of repentance to Jerusalem, God spoke confidence and promise to his shaking heart. Let these words speak confidence in your heart today, friend. God’s promise to Jeremiah is valid to you and me when we turn away from the broken cisterns of this world and place our trust in Him. “I am with you and will rescue you, declares the Lord.” (Jeremiah 1:19b).
Jesus Christ is the Living Water our souls are parched for (John 4:13-14). “Jesus stood and said in a loud voice, “Let anyone who is thirsty come to me and drink. Whoever believes in me, as Scripture has said, rivers of living water will flow from within them”(John 7:37-38).
Say with the psalmist: “As the deer pants for streams of water, so my soul pants for you, my God. My soul thirsts for God, for the living God.” (Psalm 42:1-2a).
Go to Him today. Confess. Believe. Drink. Be satisfied.
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