Broken Cisterns

Today I want to deal with the most formidable enemy we face. It is not the outside forces I am pointing to today. I want us to take a look at ourselves.
Let’s take a look at Broken Cisterns.

Jeremiah 2:12-13 KJV
Be astonished, O ye heavens, at this, and be horribly afraid, be ye very desolate, saith the Lord. 13 For my people have committed two evils; they have forsaken me the fountain of living waters, and hewed them out cisterns, broken cisterns, that can hold no water.
Amplified
Be astonished and appalled, O heavens, at this; be shocked and shrivel up with horror, says the Lord [at the behavior of the people].
13 For My people have committed two evils: they have forsaken Me, the Fountain of living waters, and they have hewn for themselves cisterns, broken cisterns which cannot hold water.

In the passages two evils are referred to and they are what I want to spend some time on today. I may not be speaking to everyone but I do believe that if not now, we have in the past, and we will face these two evils again sometime in our future.

Let’s begin with the first evil that Jeremiah mentioned. “They have forsaken Me; the Fountain of living waters.”
If you will read the scriptures before verses 12 and 13 you will find that the primary reason for God’s children to have forsaken Him was their own ingratitude. As spoiled children do they had grown to take for granted the things that God had done for them and were not thankful for His Divine mercy and grace towards them.
They had turned their back on Him as if He was not worthy of their attention.
The Father cried out,”they have forsaken Me; the Fountain of living waters.”
The one who freely provides a constant supply of comfort and relief. Anything desired to strengthen the human soul and carry on towards His destiny He provides by His mercy and grace.
God is over-flowing and ever-flowing in His gifts of favor towards His children. God is truly the Fountain of Life.
Psalms 36:9 KJV
For with thee is the fountain of life: in thy light shall we see light.
Why then do people still forsake Him. Generally there are two reasons. What He may ask you to do. The perfect example is found in the Gospel of Matthew.
In Matthew the 19th chapter a rich young man came to Christ and said “what must I do to inherent eternal life?” Christ responded by telling him to keep the commandments. He replied; I have from my youth.

Matthew 19:21-22 KJV Jesus said unto him, If thou wilt be perfect, go and sell that thou hast, and give to the poor, and thou shalt have treasure in heaven: and come and follow me. 22 But when the young man heard that saying, he went away sorrowful: for he had great possessions.

He forsook Christ at the moment because he wouldn’t do what Christ had asked him to do. The second reason is our reluctance to hear the truth.
John 6:66 KJV
From that time many of his disciples went back, and walked no more with him.
John 6:65-66 Message
This is why I told you earlier that no one is capable of coming to me on his own. You get to me only as a gift from the Father.”
66 After this a lot of his disciples left. They no longer wanted to be associated with him.
They could not live with the foundational principle of truth. It’s all about Him and not about us.
People still forsake Him today for the same reasons. Cutting off the abundant fountain of living water that flows to each of us with grace and mercy to go forward in God.
John 4:10 KJV
Jesus answered and said unto her, If thou knewest the gift of God, and who it is that saith to thee, Give me to drink; thou wouldest have asked of him, and he would have given thee living water.

You can really sum this first evil up by saying this, I don’t need God, I can do it myself.” Does it sound more familiar that way? It should because many of us have been guilty of that very thing.
Which leads us to the second evil mentioned in Jeremiah 2:12-13; The broken cisterns. The ones that won’t hold water.

They took a great deal of pains to hew themselves out cisterns, to dig pits or pools in the earth or rock which they would carry water to, or which should receive the rain; but they proved broken cisterns, false at the bottom, so that they could hold no water. When they came to quench their thirst there they found nothing but mud and mire, and the filthy sediments of a standing lake.  If we make an idol of any creature-wealth, or pleasure, or honour,–if we place our happiness in it, and promise ourselves the comfort and satisfaction in it which are to be had in God only,–if we make it our joy and love, our hope and confidence, we shall find it a cistern, which we take a great deal of pains to hew out and fill, and at the best it will hold but a little water.

When we turn to addictive substances or lifestyles and turn away from God as our source of joy and strength we may find pleasure but it will not last. The cistern is cracked and it will take more and more to satisfy the hole in your heart. When we look for recognition and praise of men we may receive it but it will never satisfy, it will never be enough.
There is no cistern we can dig, no barn to hold our crops, no vault that holds our wealth that will ever satisfy your soul like the living waters that flow from the Throne of God; driven by grace and mercy for His people, and never running short of supply.

Consider the words that Christ spoke to the church of Laodicea, in the book of Revelations.
Revelation 3:17 KJV
Because thou sayest, I am rich, and increased with goods, and have need of nothing; and knowest not that thou art wretched, and miserable, and poor, and blind, and naked:
No matter what we   can do without Him. It will never satisfy like what we do with Him.

If I were to name what I consider to be the greatest sin; Now remember there is not one greater than the other. But there are sins that are spoken of more often than others in the Bible. The one I refer to is pride. Nothing stifles our relationship with God quicker. Nothing causes greater divides with our brothers and sisters. Nothing causes more hurt and wounds in peoples hearts. And nothing hinders repentance more than being so proud you can’t admit you are wrong or that you need help.
Pride causes you to turn away from the fountain of living waters and seek remedy by your own hand.

Paul spoke of too much confidence in oneself to the Corinthian Church.
I Corinthians 10:11-12 KJV
Now all these things happened unto them for ensamples: and they are written for our admonition, upon whom the ends of the world are come. 12 Wherefore let him that thinketh he standeth take heed lest he fall.
Message
These are all warning markers—danger!—in our history books, written down so that we don’t repeat their mistakes. Our positions in the story are parallel—they at the beginning, we at the end—and we are just as capable of messing it up as they were. Don’t be so naive and self-confident. You’re not exempt. You could fall flat on your face as easily as anyone else. Forget about self-confidence; it’s useless. Cultivate God-confidence.
So what must we do? We must trust in Him.
Psalms 3:5 KJV
Trust in the Lord with all thine heart; and lean not unto thine own understanding.

I love the way King David said it as well.
Psalms 37:3-6 KJV
Trust in the Lord, and do good; so shalt thou dwell in the land, and verily thou shalt be fed.  4 Delight thyself also in the Lord; and he shall give thee the desires of thine heart. 5 Commit thy way unto the Lord; trust also in him; and he shall bring it to pass.  6 And he shall bring forth thy righteousness as the light, and thy judgment as the noonday.
Amplified
Trust (lean on, rely on, and be confident) in the Lord and do good; so shall you dwell in the land and feed surely on His faithfulness, and truly you shall be fed.
4 Delight yourself also in the Lord, and He will give you the desires and secret petitions of your heart.
5 Commit your way to the Lord [roll and repose each care of your load on Him]; trust (lean on, rely on, and be confident) also in Him and He will bring it to pass.
6 And He will make your uprightness and right standing with God go forth as the light, and your justice and right as [the shining sun of] the noonday.

Would you rather be trying to fill a broken cistern or be connected to a ever flowing Fountain of life?
Now would be a good time to decide!!!

Tags: Cisterns, Fountain, Life, Pride