10.01.2006

Broken cisterns

Jeremiah was called out of the territory of Benjamin and given a message from the Lord to take to the people of Israel. In a nutshell God says to him, "I chose you! I set you apart! I appointed you!" Jeremiah protests on the grounds that he is not skilled enough and only a youth. But God says (again in a nutshell), "This is not about you and your skill. You will go where I SEND YOU and speak whatever I TELL YOU TO!" God says through Jeremiah, "My people have exchanged their Glory (My glory) for useless idols. Be horrified at this, heavens; be shocked and appalled. This is what the LORD says. For My people have commited a double evil: They have abandoned Me, the fountain of living water, and dug cisterns for themselves, cracked cisterns that cannot hold water."
My heart breaks when I read this because I know I am exactly like the ones Jeremiah was speaking to. I am so full of holes. I am leaking out every good thing that is in me because I constantly dig for myself broken cisterns. I am never full. I am never satisfied because I know all too well the pattern of life the Israelites followed. Broken cisterns, brokeness. When will I ever get it? When will we ever get it?

1 comments:

simpsons said...

he is no fool,
who trades a broken cistern for a well what won't run dry?
he is no fool,
who gives up earthly pleasures for the One who satisfies?