Mar 20 - Jeremiah 2:13

My people have committed two evils:

they have forsaken me,

the fountain of living water,

and dug out cisterns for themselves,

cracked cisterns that can hold no water.

Jeremiah 2:13

Forsaking God is an obvious evil. But why is digging out our own cisterns so evil?

First, you know what a cistern is, right? It's a pit for water. It must have a solid lining. Cisterns often hold the runoff from the rain. They can also be filled from nearby rivers and springs. In and of itself, cisterns are obviously not bad or evil.

The problem is the water. God provides living water. He is the only source for true life. "Digging out cisterns for ourselves" implies filling up our lives with our own agendas and trying to do life on our own terms.

At its worst, we're forsaking God's living water and are drinking from the world's pollution. These bacteria, filth, and parasites will steadily poison us.

But even at our best, we'll still only collect some of the good that the world can offer. Not only does the world's provision lack the nutrients of eternal life, but the best of our human efforts eventually erodes the lining of the cistern. Even the world's best will inevitably leak out, and we'll be left empty.

I don't know about you, but it's unlikely that I will formally and officially forsake God. However, I am constantly tempted to try and dig out “success” on my own terms.

In Christ's Love,

a guy who wants God to pour me

a little of the good stuff