Jeremiah 2:13 “My people have committed two sins: They have forsaken me, the spring of living water, and have dug their own cisterns, broken cisterns that cannot hold water.
I have noticed that many people have a high level of ingenuity. They are always looking for time- or work-saving methods or devices. They call them ‘hacks’. There are all sorts of these. Kitchen hacks. Tech hacks. Even life hacks. Some of them are really interesting and seem like they would really work well. Others sometimes seem silly. For example, I saw a picture of a man driving an electric car pulling a trailer. On the trailer was a gas generator so that he could charge his car! A hack, but not a great one!
Jeremiah, through the inspiration of the Holy Spirit, had identified a problem with Israel: they had developed what they thought was a life hack. He summarized their issue down to two sins. They had forsaken God and tried to find another.
Only two sins sounds promising! But it turns out that the low number does not equate to a small problem! God had identified Himself as the Spring of Living Water. Look at a bottle of spring water. Somewhere on the label it probably says, “bottled at the source.” God was the Source. He was everything they needed. But they had rejected Him. They rejected the Living Water, the Source.
But people don’t just decide on ‘no god.’ They come up with substitutes. They create ‘hacks’ to fill the void. Jeremiah pointed out that, since they had rejected the Source, they had decided to build cisterns. But their cisterns leaked. That’s the way it is when we try to replace God in our life. Nothing else works the same way. Why would we think it would?
It’s easy to read about Israel’s problems and shake our heads at them. How silly they were to think that some little statue that they built could replace God! How foolish to think that they could create a ‘god’ out of wood or metal or stone, then turn around and worship it! We are far too sophisticated for that! So we create our ‘gods’ through more sophisticated methods. We exchange the Living Water for ideas or concepts. We like to say things like, “I don’t hold to any religion, but I’m very spiritual.”
We look everywhere to find help or guidance but the one place it exists. This really isn’t new. Jesus said He was the Way, the Truth, and the Life and no one comes to the Father except through Him.” He knew that people were always trying to do just that. When we reject the Source, we try to fill the void with resource.
The great thing about building your own cistern is that even though it might be leaky and the water tends to be stale and unsatisfying, you get to be your own boss! (Or god. For that is surely what has happened.) The bad thing is that rather than having the Almighty God of the universe to rely on, you have, well, you. That’s a terrible hack!
Blessings,
Pastor Russ
