THE FORSAKEN FOUNTAIN: BROKEN CISTERNS

“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 2:13

REFERENCE:

Jeremiah 2:4-13

We saw in the last episode that God became the forsaken fountain of backslidden Israel. God brought a charge against them that they made broken cisterns (water tanks) for themselves to drink from; meanwhile, the waters of these cisterns will never satisfy that which comes from God’s fountain of life. These cisterns represent satan’s subtle attempts at substituting our love for God with other seemingly harmless things that take our attention off God. See some below:

1.     Secular Humanism: We believe that we have reached a level of consciousness, civilization, and evolution where we do not need God – it is all in us (we are gods); we can achieve morality and self-fulfillment without God. We rely only on science, human potential, and logic. The sad thing is that even atheists have been known to repent on their deathbeds.

2.     Pleasure: Because pleasure is desirable and numbs us to present and future problems, we have felt secure without the need for a ‘God.’ We live in a generation where entertainment and amusement have taken center stage. All these have kept many of us from our daily devotions, church attendance, and service to God. If the church is not ‘exciting,’ we won’t go.

3.     Activity: This at first appears as a harmless broken cistern because we are busy doing something; we say, ‘Heaven helps those who help themselves.’ We just get so busy chasing one thing or the other. Our attention has been drawn away from God by the quest and the drive to succeed, which has led many people into trouble. We major on minor things and minor on that which is major—’ JUST ONE THING IS NEEDFUL.’

4.     False Religion—This is the easiest cistern of them all to dig. We create an alternative religion, a religion of our own fancy. We ensure it has enough latitude to accommodate our base nature and sinful appetites. We lessen its moral demands and amplify its power to fight those who condemn it or point out the error within. We ensure that it doesn’t touch our pocket and that its service or worship is on our terms. It is a ‘feel-good’ religion.

Are there other broken cisterns that you can think of that unknowingly distract us from God? Write them in the comment section. In Jesus’ name, I pray that God will keep you and me from forsaking the Fountain of Life and going to a broken cistern to drink water.

ADDITIONAL TEXTS:

Ecclesiastes 1:14, Isaiah 55:1-2, and Matthew 15:8-9

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+ Father, open my eyes to any broken cistern I have used to replace You in my life.

+ I refuse to give my life and time to pursuing vanity.

+ As I take stock of my life and activities, I cut off every idol and return to the fountain of life.