Broken Cisterns and Flowing Fountains

In Jeremiah 2:13, God said “For my people have committed two evils: They have forsaken Me, the fountain of living waters, and hewn themselves cisterns – broken cisterns that can hold no water.”

There is a clear distinction between cisterns and fountains. Cisterns are reservoirs made of solid rock, that are dug into the earth to hold water. Fountains on the other hand, are artesian springs, bubbling up from the earth and providing an infinite supply of fresh, pure water.

We all have a choice with regards to what source to derive our spiritual water from. Whilst the better choice of a fresh fountain supply is freely available, we often choose to dig up our own cisterns. This ‘digging’ of cisterns is an act of the will. Our self-will always results in our drinking stale water. Unlike the fountain source, it is polluted and finite in supply. This leads to spiritual sicknesses like hopelessness and frustration and it always runs out.

We get a clearer picture of the living fountain water source in John 4:10. Jesus said to the Samaritan woman “If you knew the gift of God, and who it is who says to you, ‘Give Me a drink,’ you would have asked Him, and He would have given you living water”. Jesus is the only source of true living water. He is the fountain from which our spirits can drink up eternal life, forgiveness, peace, joy, hope and love.

The broken cistern of our self-will is no match for the free-flowing fountain of Christ’s love. We can either choose to continue striving to dig cistern after cistern that will never truly satisfy our souls or we can choose to drink from the fountain of life Himself. Anything born out of self-will is ultimately doomed to failure because of God’s absence. Broken cisterns cannot hold water so let’s make our way down to the fountain and drink our fill.

Related articles

• The Emptiness of Forsaking God (craigsturm.wordpress.com)