Broken Cisterns

"What does not satisfy when we find it, was not the thing we were desiring." 
-C. S. Lewis


"If only you had this or that," the world lies to us, "then you would be happy." How come then, once we do achieve whatever goal we have set for ourselves, or attain whatever possession or relationship we were chasing after, that the satisfaction from it never lasts for long? We are always left wanting more.


Maybe the reason is because we thought we knew what we wanted, but actually we were way off target. Maybe what we really were desiring was fulfillment, and we thought we knew where we could find it--money, success, popularity, approval from others, a relationship, status, whatever else it may be. However, we were going to the wrong places to find this fulfillment. We thought things and people in this world could satisfy us, but in reality, these things do not have the power to fulfill us. God and God alone can give us complete satisfaction in Him.


Psalm 16:2 [NIV 2011]: "I say to the LORD, “You are my Lord; apart from you I have no good thing."


In the book of Jeremiah, the people go after all sorts of other things, rather than following God. They have deserted God to chase after things that do not fulfill. It's a painful realization to see how often I can be like these people... I try to fill myself up with things that (intellectually) I know do not satisfy.


Jeremiah 2:13 [NIV]: "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."


I did a little online research to find out what a cistern actually was, and here's what I found...


Cistern definition: "a receptacle for water, either conducted from an external spring or proceeding from rain-fall."


From John Wesley: "Verse 13 -- Of living waters - A metaphor taken from springs, called living, because they never cease, or intermit; such had God's care and kindness been over them. Cisterns - Either their idols, which are empty vain things, that never answer expectation, or the Assyrians, and Egyptians. Indeed all other supports, that are trusted to besides God, are but broken vessels."


In short, the people had forsaken God, and pursued idols. Just a few thoughts on idols from Jeremiah...


Jeremiah 2:5 [NLT]: "This is what the Lord says: "What did your ancestors find wrong with me that led them to stray so far from me? They worshiped worthless idols, only to become worthless themselves.""


Jeremiah 10:5 [NLT]: "Their gods are like helpless scarecrows in a cucumber field! They cannot speak, and they need to be carried because they cannot walk. Do not be afraid of such gods, for they can neither harm you nor do you any good."


Jeremiah 10:8 [Amplified Bible]: But they are altogether irrational and stupid and foolish. Their instruction is given by idols who are but wood [it is a teaching of falsity, emptiness, futility]!


Jeremiah 10:15 [NLT]: "Idols are worthless; they are ridiculous lies! On the day of reckoning they will all be destroyed."


"Idols always break the hearts of their worshipers."
-C. S. Lewis

Well said... If you are giving your life to something that cannot save, you are bound to be let down.

I am so thankful for the way God pursues me so persistently; even when I mess up, He loves me still the same. I am so thankful for his unending mercies, so thankful for how His love never fails.


Psalm 116:5 [NIV 2011]: "The LORD is gracious and righteous; our God is full of compassion."


Lamentations 3:22-23 [NLT]: "The faithful love of the Lord never ends! His mercies never cease. Great is His faithfulness; His mercies begin afresh each morning."