Where do we turn to meet our thirst – our spiritual thirst?
We have a choice:
1) the spring of living water, ever fresh, always renewed, rich in the minerals as it flows continually from its source
OR
2) We can dig cisterns to try to hold water. These cisterns must not break, crack or be damaged in anyway, or they will not be able to hold water. But even if our cisterns do not break, the water will become stagnant, old and stale, nutrient poor as it sits there waiting for us to go to it when we get desperate, and then it won’t give us what we need to live.
Wells draw water from underground aquifers, like natural springs do. This water is renewed and flows, which is why wells form part of biblical imagery. Cisterns just collect water and just hold it. They have a bottom to them, and if they break, all the water is lost.
Spring water is so much bettered than stagnant, stale water. It satiates our thirst in a way that stagnant water (imagine a half-opened bottle of water which has been left for a few days) can never do. So it is with our spiritual thirst. Jesus is the spring of living water, whoever believes in Him will never go thirsty. But just like the Israelites that Jeremiah is prophesying to (Jer 2:13), we try to dig our own cisterns, which collect water which turns stagnant, a poor substitute for the living water of Christ given to us by the Holy Spirit. It eventually cracks and breaks, and the poor, little nourishment we were getting runs dry.
This Lent, I invite you to return to Jesus Christ, the spring of living water, who will nourish and renew you, sustaining you everyday. His mercies are new every morning, so whether you have never come to Him before, used to come to Him but have turned to a cistern, or, like me, try to remember to come to Jesus but keep forgetting, you will be welcomed, renewed and nourished.
A reflection on Jeremiah 2:13
repairerofwalls 