Broken Cisterns

“For My people have committed two evils:
They have forsaken Me,
The fountain of living waters,
To hew for themselves cisterns,
Broken cisterns
That can hold no water."

Today is more of a continuation from yesterday yet a little different. The quote from above is found in Jeremiah 2:13. The whole first part of Jeremiah 2 is God reminding the Israelites of just what He had done for them. Then, starting in verse 5, God starts asking some really good questions of the Israelite people. He says, "What did I do wrong that caused your fathers to go far from me?" A few verses down, God makes the statement that those who handled the Law didn't know Him. My first instinct/response to this passage is, "How could you go from God's chosen people to this?" But if I stop and think about it, this seems to be the case of God's people throughout the span of time. God blesses and blesses and blesses. Then people seem to either worship the blessings or they turn from God and worship whatever they want. I am going through the book of Judges and the whole them of the book seems to be "and the Israelites did evil in the sight of the Lord."

It shouldn't floor me then to see the state of the church and my youth group today. God seems to have blessed (notice the past tense of this word) this country in the past and we are living off of and worshipping those blessings. The youth that I minister to have more today than most of the people in this world. I can no longer offer "cool" prizes at events because I don't have the money to get items that would be wanted. Most of my youth have their own cars (many of them brand new), their own computers, cellphones, tons of name brand clothes, and so much more. I am not ranting and raving about the materialism of the United States...so don't hear me wrong. Even my own daughter made the statement the other day that the reason why people don't go to her school is because they are too poor. (I set her straight on that one...we couldn't go to that school if they didn't offer pastors a discount.)

The problem isn't the stuff, it's the worship that tends to come along with that stuff. The blessings seem to be the god that is worshipped with the giver of the gift is left in the dust. Getting back to the quote at the top of this blog, it seems as if I am swimming in and amongst people who have traded the fountain of living water for broken cups that can't hold anything. Just in case I am not being clear...a fountain does not end in its water supply. It gushes and gushes crisp clear invigorating water that quenches the most dehydrated person. It just pours out over and above what the drinker needs. I can't help but thing of a person who has been dragging himself through a desert for a couple of days and wonders upon the a fountain that is in the middle of a bunch of Palm trees. What is he going to do? He is going to drink until he can't drink anymore. And then he is probably going to stay put. The fountain is sustaining him. If he leaves the fountain there is a good chance that he will die in the desert. His "savior" is right there and he is not moving.

Can you imagine the man who stumbled upon the fountain...but also saw in the distance a broken vase that had a little bit of water in it and chose the vase over the fountain? That person is flat out stupid. Yet this is what many of the Christians that I have run into lately seem to be doing. When I ask them why they are heading down the path that they are, the response is something along the lines of, "This is what I feel I need to do." WHAT! You're going to give up this fountain of life and go after what you feel you need to do. Stupid, stupid, stupid people. (I am in this boat from time to time as well, and it's only by the grace of God that He provides someone to tell me how stupid I am being.)

Two evils that are still very present today: (1)Forsaking God, the living fountain, and (2)making up things that hold no water with which we try to sustain ourselves with. At what point will God throw His hands up in the air and say, "Fine, I've had enough". The answer...RETURN TO THE LIVING FOUNTAIN AND LIVE!