“For my people have committed two evils; they have forsaken me the fountain of living waters, and hewed them out cisterns, broken cisterns, that can hold no water.”
So its been nearly two weeks since ladies camp. This verse has been mulling in my heart and mind since then. The word “hewed” and “cistern” have grabbed my attention.
To hew means to strike forcibly with an ax or sharp instrument, to chop or hack. These are hard words and actions, very different to the gentle hands of the Master Potter. A cistern is not necessarily a pot but an underground reservoir to save water in.
What a trade down! To forsake, to leave the Lord Jesus the fountain of fresh and living water and trade that for a vessel or reservoir of my making with forcible hard actions and what’s more it’s not even done properly and so is unable and inadequate to hold water! Water which will rot and stink as all the impurities seep in through the cracks and holes, never mind the stale water that will seep out and infect others! Small wonder God says it is evil!
Wow! Challenging thoughts! So, where am I in all of this? Am I still on the potters wheel, has He moved me on into the fiery furnace, perhaps His using me, Praise the Lord! Maybe I’ve decided to it’s too much like hard work and I’ll make my own plan…. Dear reader, don’t do that! The end of the chapter has a warning …
“For the Lord has rejected your confidences, and you will not prosper in them.”
At best we are broken, in our own great achievements we can’t even supply fresh, living water. We need Jesus! We need Him to be our source, our supply and our goal.
