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.

THEME OF THE DAY. GUARD AGAINST TWO EVILS. Let the imagery in today’s scripture settle into our hearts and minds. Think about a clear, refreshing, and inviting mountain stream winding through a wooded forest. It is a picture of beauty and satisfaction. Then imagine a stagnant body of water, overgrown with algae, not managed, and anything but inviting. It is a picture of ugliness and dissatisfaction. Now let’s move this into the spiritual realm as the Lord speaks . . .

The Lord identifies two things His people have done. They are not mistakes made or simply bad choices chosen. He calls them “evils” and in doing so, He reveals how seriously He takes His people’s evil treatment of Him. And what is this evil treatment drawing out this revelation of the Lord? It is two-fold and centers on where God’s choice creation, His people, seek to satisfy their hearts and lives. But before we identify them, we must understand the underlying truth God is telling us. He is saying, “It is an evil thing in My eyes if you attempt to find satisfaction in your hearts and lives apart from me.” Don’t quickly dismiss this. God takes great offense in His people if they attempt to satisfy their hearts and lives in anything or anyone apart from Him. And this offense occurs in two ways.

First, there is the evil to deliberately choose to abandon God in the pursuit of satisfaction and contentment. The Lord says, “They have forsaken me.” This isn’t falling into temptation. This is a deliberate choice to go against the Lord. He takes it personally. And we do this every time we satisfy the flesh, choose the world, and try to find happiness, satisfaction, and contentment apart from Him. God doesn’t say we are choosing worldliness. He calls our choices to satisfy ourselves outside of Him a wicked evil of “forsaking Him.” Every time we make this choice, we are saying, “Lord, You are not enough for me. I need more.”

The next evil is a natural conclusion or consequence of the first. If we choose to forsake God as our source of happiness, satisfaction, and contentment, we will pursue all three in the world and sin. The Lord calls anything or anyone we pursue to fulfill our inward longings “broken cisterns”. And what do broken cisterns hold? Nothing. Whatever goes in, quickly empties out. That is a great description of the promises from the world and sin when it comes to pleasure. They cannot “hold their own” so to speak. They cannot deliver on their claims. The world and sin promise satisfying pleasure but only produce unfulfilling pain. Again, pay attention to how the Lord looks at this. He holds us directly responsible for this deliberate choice of “hewing out cisterns for themselves.” He says, “You didn’t drift into worldliness. You chose it and it never gives forth the living water that I can.”

So, when tempted to seek pleasure, happiness, satisfaction, and contentment in anything other than the Lord Jesus, stop and think about what we are about to do. Ponder the crossroad where we find ourselves. It is the choice of forsaking the Lord or seeking the Lord. Keep this relational aspect of our walk with Him, and we will choose wisely.

PRAYER: “Father, please protect me from trying to satisfy my heart with anything or anyone but You.”

QUOTE: “The human heart was created to be satisfied in the Creator alone and He will ensure that remains true.”