Jeremiah 2:13 “For my people have committed two evils: they have forsaken me, the fountain of living waters and hewed out cisterns for themselves, broken cisterns that can hold no water.”
This is becoming my favorite passage of Scripture to use in counseling, especially in working with men that are struggling with addictions or life-dominating sins. There are basically three questions we need to be asking ourselves or those we are counseling in light of this passage.
#1 Where are you at with God?
Are you and HIM in right relationship with one another? The Bible is very clear about man’s primary problem.
Romans 3:23 “For all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God.” Psalm 51:3 “For I know my transgressions, and my sin is ever before me.”
I’ll borrow some words of wisdom I heard in an interview that Duck Dynasty star, Phil Robertson had. Here’s what he said, “Death is a problem and so is sin. Jesus Christ came down from heaven and solved both of them.” The miles that separate the sinfulness of man and the holiness of God are insurmountable, apart from the finished work of Jesus on the cross! Jesus is our only hope to being reconciled to the God we have all forsaken (because of our sin nature that we are all born with). We must understand who we are and where we are headed based upon on our own righteousness. We must humble ourselves and repent of our sins and turn toward Jesus for the forgiveness of our sins and the hope of eternal life.
#2 What broken cisterns are you drinking from today?
These specific cisterns that are being referred to in Jeremiah were underground water storage devices for rainwater. The problem was that they were broke and they allowed water to seep out, therefore they turned out to be worthless. Sound familiar? I can recall many times in my life before I had a relationship with Jesus that I hewed out cisterns for myself and over time I realized that they too, were broken cisterns that held no water. They sounded, looked, and even tasted really good in the beginning but in the end they left me parched, dry, and totally unsatisfied. Ravi Zaccharias captures it this way,
“Sin will take you farther than you want to go, keep you longer than you want to stay, and cost you more than you want to pay.”
What temporal, fleeting pleasures are you settling for today? Booze, drugs, unhealthy relationships, money, fame, fill in the blank with anything you have hewed out for yourself.
#3 Do you know that God has absolutely everything you will ever need?
HE is the fountain of living water! This means HIS well never runs dry, friends! HIS supply is always full! What HE has will fully satisfy our parched and thirsty souls! Listen to what King David says in Psalms.
Psalm 16:11 “You make known to me the path of life; in your presence there is fulness of joy; at your right hand our pleasures forevermore.”
I like how C.S. Lewis explained our pathetic pursuit of looking for love in all the wrong places.
“It would seem that our Lord finds our desires not too strong, but too weak. We are half-hearted creatures, fooling about with drink and sex and ambition when infinite joy is offered us, like an ignorant child who wants to go on making mud-pies in the slum because he cannot imagine what is meant by the offer of a holiday at the sea. We are far too easily pleased.” – C.S. Lewis
Sin is a liar! It will not give the pleasure that it promises to deliver, but our God will not only deliver the pleasure that we are longing for, HE will give us pleasures forevermore!!!