Broken Cisterns

“... my people have committed a double wrong: they have rejected me, the fountain of life-giving water, and they have dug cisterns for themselves, cracked cisterns which cannot even hold water.” Jeremiah 2:13

For the last couple of weeks I have been thinking about how sin cuts a person short of his/her destiny and achieving his/her purpose. A lot of people have settled for less than what they could attain.. all because of certain pleasures they could have foregone... in fact now that I think of it... I had started writing something about it but never got to finish it... maybe I too was cut short haha..

Anyway, yesterday I was waiting for a meeting to start and I decided to spend the time reading an E-book I had gotten sometime back... allow me to withhold the title for now... but one of the chapters starts with the verse I have quoted above... Jeremiah 2:13.. and it hit me... many people have settled for broken cisterns... cisterns that cannot hold water for long... instead of seeking the fountain of living water... a fountain that never dries up..

You see many times, we, like Eve, settle for that which is appealing to the eye as being good and not for that which is everlasting... as Paul says, the seen is temporal, the unseen eternal. And so we end up settling for immediate pleasures instead of being patient and waiting for that which endures. The financial experts will tell you to live within your means and forgo pleasures today so that you can enjoy them in the future after you have saved some money... and the scripture will tell you a similar thing..

The scripture will tell you that, what appears to be fulfilling today, will only last for today, it does not endure... you see this theme all throughout scripture... Jesus talked about laying up riches in heaven where moth and rust do not destroy... in Revelation 3 He tells the church in Laodicea that although it appears rich it is actually "wretched, pitiful, poor, blind, and naked" and He offers a more enduring solution to this... in John 4... He tells the woman at the well that He offers water that will forever satisfy her i.e. she will not thirst again..

Basically, God in His word tells us that what the world offers is fleeting and vain, but what He offers is more enduring.. as reiterated in Isaiah 55:1-3 and Haggai 1:2-11 among other portions of scripture... many have gone for water in broken cisterns... water they labor for but does not endure... this is both the Christian and the non-Christian.

For the Christian... broken cisterns come out of disobedience... when we choose not to go God's way in order to satisfy the lust of the flesh, lust of the eyes and the pride of life... and the same reason applies to the non- Christian.. because it all boils down to not following God's word and His instruction... one of my favorite scriptures Psalms 32:8-11 says for those who do not trust God to lead them... sorrow awaits.. Isaiah 48:17-22 also says the same thing... those who follow God's command and obey Him, will never thirst, they do not lack any good thing.. as the Psalmist says... God does not withhold any good things from the righteous for as James says... all good and perfect gifts are from Him...

So will you trust God's word and His leading today... many of us know the sins that have cut us short... fornication, love of money, pride, drunkenness etc these and many other such sins have robbed many a life of its potential... they seem to satisfy initially, but at the end of the day, that satisfaction is lost... only Christ can truly satisfy your soul... trust Him and you will not be disappointed...

Grace and peace.