Broken Cisterns

Jeremiah 2:13

¹³ “My people have committed two sins:
They have forsaken me,
   the spring of living water,
and have dug their own cisterns,
   broken cisterns that cannot hold water.

The Lord has made Himself clear – He is the spring of Living Water.  There’s no more thirst nor endless search of quenchless longings or desires IN HIM.  In the same way as the Israelites deliberately used broken cisterns to hold temporal and time-constrained water, us human beings in general are holding temporal things in broken cisterns.  We’re trying to hold on to certain things in us – the broken cistern – and these things are temporal soul quenchers we are storing deep within us.  We must allow God to be the spring of living water in us.  He is the One who will be able to quench the thirst of affection, love, approval, affirmation, and the supply to every need daily. 

How do I do that?  Do not forsake the Lord like the Israelites did.  Do not dig broken cisterns to hold temporal water that are not able to quench real thirst and fill holes of spiritual brokenness. 

My heart is the broken cistern that I allow to store little temporal quenchers to satisfy earthly thoughts.  I must allow the Lord to wash and heal every inch of brokenness in my life that I may not look for temporary tangible quenchers.  Instead, I need to soak myself up with God’s presence.  Filling my thoughts with the thoughts of Him, His Word, His promises, encouragements, words of life from people who did, etc.  On a practical level, when temporary quenching thoughts come to mind, I must immediately wash it off with God’s promises and rebuke the enemy that could try to remind me of it.  IN JESUS’ NAME. 

Lord, I pray that You strengthen me.  Help me to see more of what this truth means in my life.  I know that I need to identify them so I can see them clearly and I must do what needs to be done.  Please guard my heart and please help me to not entertain thoughts that captivate my mind off of what I should all the more be thinking about -  YOU, YOUR WORD, YOUR PROMISES, etc.  Please help me to keep my guard up by soaking in Your presence and in Your Word.  In Jesus’ name, amen.