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.
Are you drinking from the well of living waters? Or have you created your own well?
We will never face a time in our lives where we can coast spiritually. I believe the challenge to “keep fighting the good fight” extends throughout every area of life and continues until we take our last breath. But I’m afraid many are missing the memo.
The human tendency leans toward self-reliance. Some believers think that although they needed God to save them, they can take it from here. Their seeking God, depending on God and glorifying God slows down to the point where they rarely look to him for answers.
Israel’s history illustrates a continual relapse into self-reliance. Jeremiah exhorted the nation to stop “digging their own cisterns” and drink the “living waters” flowing from God. Maybe they thought figuring things out on their own was the mature response. Or, more likely, if they sought God’s direction, he may lead them to places they didn’t want to go. But their cisterns had holes. And when the water started to leak, they turned to other gods for help.
I became a believer when I was a teenager. At that age, my deepest desire was to one day have a Christian husband. But rather than trusting in the “living waters” to pick him out, I started digging my own cistern. I didn’t think God—way up there in the heavenly realms—could possibly choose a suitable match for me. (Guess it slipped my mind that the God who created my inmost being might know better than me).
Needless to say, I experienced my share of romantic disasters. Until I came to my senses and finally laid my longing at God’s feet. Completely. Over 50 years later, and I’m still praising God for bringing me back to the living waters and giving me my (very suitable) husband.
So wherever you might be in your walk with God, keep drinking from the living waters. Keep seeking him for every problem you face and decision you make. As we enter this new year, let’s be intentional and drink life!