Scripture:  Jeremiah 2:10-17

“For my people have done two evil things: They have abandoned me—the fountain of living water. And they have dug for themselves cracked cisterns that can hold no water at all!” (Jeremiah 2:13, NLT).

“And you have brought this upon yourselves by rebelling against the Lord your God, even though he was leading you on the way!” (Jeremiah 2:17, NLT).

Observation:

Despite warnings by Jeremiah and other prophets the ancient Israelites chose to worship the false gods of their idolatrous neighbors. Jeremiah’s message points out that even these pagan nations stayed true to their gods. Yet these Israelites had “exchanged their glorious God for worthless idols” (v.11). All the atrocities they had committed, including human sacrifice of their own children (Jeremiah 19:5), stemmed from two evil things: they abandoned God, and they tried to satisfy themselves with a poor substitute.

Application:

Why would anyone abandon a life-giving fountain and dig for one’s self a leaky cistern? Why abandon a miracle-working God for the delusion we have it under control? Why abandon true wisdom for self-direction? Yet believers, like the ancient Israelites, sometimes convince themselves that our own way would bring better, bigger, and more lasting results than going God’s way. Jeremiah’s contemporaries failed to learn that there is no substitute for God. Their false gods and self-wisdom were of no help against the enemy that destroyed their country and enslaved them. How likely is it that our own rebellion against following God’s leading would end any better?

Prayer:

Father, thank you for satisfying me with you, the Fountain of Living Water. Thank you for patiently leading me along the path that I should go. Forgive me for replacing you with my own importance, selfishness, and petty grievances. Break apart the leaky cisterns I have dug by going my own way. Lead me back to you and fill me once again with your Spirit, the living water. In Jesus’ name, Amen.