SWORD OF THE SPIRIT                                                                                               1278

“Two Evils”

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. – Jeremiah 2:13

It is easy to read an Old Testament Scripture such as Jeremiah 2:13 and think it does not apply to us. The truth is that all Scripture is applicable and timeless and that when God speaks of ‘My people’ He is also speaking of us who have been grafted into the vine of God’s chosen people through Jesus.

All Scripture is breathed out by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for training in righteousness – 2 Timothy 3:16

As indeed he says in Hosea, “Those who were not my people I will call ‘my people,’ and her who was not beloved I will call ‘beloved.’” – Romans 9:25

Let us examine this Scripture more closely and apply its Truth to our lives.

God says we have committed two evils: (1) We have forsaken Him, the source of Living Water and (2) We have dug our own cisterns – cisterns that cannot hold water.

What does it mean to forsake someone or something? When we have forsaken someone, we have renounced them and turned away from them. Before we get all self-righteous and say that we would never forsake Jesus, remember that Peter said the same thing.

Peter answered him, “Though they all fall away because of you, I will never fall away.” – Matthew 26:33

We forsake Jesus when we fail to stand up for Him out of fear of being ridiculed among our peers, co-workers, family, etc. We would rather not speak the Truth of the Word because we do not want to offend them.

We forsake Him when we, in our impatience, decide to stop waiting for Him to answer prayer and decide to take matters in our own hands to ‘help Him out’. Perhaps we decide to go deeper in debt to purchase what we want rather than wait and trust in God to provide what we need. Perhaps we seek a financial ‘blessing’ by gambling, looking for that windfall rather than relying on God to meet our needs.

Keep your life free from love of money, and be content with what you have, for he has said, “I will never leave you nor forsake you.” – Hebrews 13:5

But seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness, and all these things will be added to you. – Matthew 6:33

God describes Himself in our reference Scripture as the ‘fountain of living waters’. He is the source of all that we need in this life and for eternity in the next. This living water constantly flows. It never ceases. It is fresh, oxygenated, life-giving water. It is the Holy Spirit of God that Jesus would send to us.

A cistern, on the other hand, holds stagnating water if at all. We must work digging, maintaining, and refilling it. When we forsake God and go ‘our own way’ relying on our own intellect and resources we will fail. Cisterns of our own making will always fail us.

…Jesus stood up and cried out, “If anyone thirsts, let him come to me and drink; Jesus answered her, “If you knew the gift of God, and who it is that is saying to you, ‘Give me a drink,’ you would have asked him, and he would have given you living water.” – John 7:37; 4:10

‘Cisterns’ take many shapes in our lives. We may forsake God and seek to rely on our education, real estate holdings, 401k and other investments, employers, and pension plans, etc. We may abandon our trust in God and place that trust in someone else or even in our selves. This is all tantamount to idolatry – a relying on things, self, and/or others instead of God.

May the Holy Spirit speak to our hearts and help us to turn away from these two evils. May we always follow the Lord, trusting in Him and waiting patiently for Him, confident in His perfect love.

But as for me, I will look to the Lord; I will wait for the God of my salvation; my God will hear me. – Micah 7:7