Be astonished, O heavens, at this,
and be horribly afraid; be very desolate,” says the Lord. “For My people
have committed two evils: They have forsaken Me, the fountain of living waters,
and hewn themselves
cisterns—broken cisterns that can hold no water. (Jeremiah 2:12-13)
A
cistern is a deep hole dug in the ground
which is used to store water. They are used
when drinkable underground
water cannot be found
at a reasonable depth. Before steel or plastic were
invented, most cisterns were made of cement to prevent water
loss from seepage.
One source of water for a cistern is rain. In periods of draught
it is sometimes necessary to haul water to fill the cistern.
Our cistern was built right next to the old
ranch house in 1944. After 70 years, the
cement has cracked and been patched several times. As the cistern stands now, there is a crack
above ground level that allows water, when it reaches that height, to seep out
unto the ground. The seepage results in
the cistern never being completely filled.
In the beginning we were made in the image of
God (Genesis 1:26a). Adam and Eve walked
and talked with God in the Garden of Eden.
God met all of their needs, but then Satan came along and deceived Eve
into eating the forbidden fruit. Adam knew that it was wrong, but he also ate
of the fruit. That is when sin entered
into the world. Sin caused us to forsake
God and we began to build our own cisterns—broken cisterns. These are full of things that we think will
make us happy. Things like riches, more
ranch land, beautiful clothes, prestige or great food. Anything can become a broken cistern for us.
Just as the cistern on the ranch is never
completely full, the broken cisterns we create in our lives leave us incomplete-not
completely full or fulfilled. There is
an emptiness or incompleteness that can never be filled by us. However, there is One who can fill our
cistern and quench the thirst caused by the broken cistern.
God
created us to be thirsty or to desire a relationship with Him and a need for
Him. He told His disciples, “Without me
you can do nothing.” But we have two
sins that keep us from that desired relationship. Our first sin is that we have “forsaken Him”
or have turned away from God the only real source of life. Jesus said in John 14:6, “I am the way, the
truth, and the life: no one comes to the Father except through me.”
Our second sin is that we seek satisfaction
apart from God. We look for happiness
and peace in all the wrong places. We
think that material things will make us happy, when only God can fill our
emptiness.
Matthew 5:6 “Blessed are those who hunger and
thirst for righteousness, for they shall be filled. Knowing that God created us to thirst for
righteousness, let us go to the Fountain of Living Water and drink deeply of
all that He has for us.
Psalm
107:9 “For He satisfies the longing soul, and fills the hungry soul with
goodness.
.
“If you feel the need for God in your life,
that’s exactly how you are supposed to feel.
You were never intended to do life on your own (without Him).” Dr. David
Jeremiah
.
