Bible League: Living His Word "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." According to our verse for today, there are two solutions to the problem if you are thirsty. You can drink from "the spring of living water," or you can drink from a "broken cistern that cannot hold water." Put in such stark terms, one wonders why anyone would ever want to forsake pure spring water for leaky cistern water. Yet that is what God accuses the people of Judah of doing. "The spring of living water" is a metaphor for the Lord Himself. The metaphor is an appropriate description of the Lord. Like a pure mountain spring that continuously gushes forth life giving water, so the Lord is the source of all life and the sustainer of all life. God, one might say, is a spring that waters His people so that they will live and flourish. Psalm 36:9 says "For with you is the fountain of life," and Isaiah 44:3 says, "For I will pour water on the thirsty land, and streams on the dry ground." On the other hand, "broken cisterns that cannot hold water" is a metaphor for the idols created by people. The metaphor is appropriate for any man-made alternative to the Lord above. Like a cistern that contains water muddied by the earthen structure that contains it, idols are a poor substitute for the Lord. Indeed, idols are broken cisterns that leak out whatever limited amount of fetid and noxious water they actually do contain. People who drink from cisterns rather than from the mountain springs have committed two sins. They have forsaken the one true God and they have set up for themselves an alternative deity. Since there is only one true God, if you reject Him, the only alternative is to create one for yourself. Obviously, any deity created by humankind cannot match the uncreated Lord above. Thus, any attempt to quench your thirst from a broken cistern will only lead to disappointment. Any attempt to find life in something that you have set up yourself as the ultimate source of life will actually minister death to you. There is no good man-made alternative to fresh spring water. Ultimately, only the Lord can satisfy our thirst for life. Bible in a Year Old Testament ReadingPsalm 90, 91, 92 Psalm 90 -- BOOK 4: Lord, you have been our dwelling place for all generations. NIV NLT ESV NAS GWT KJV ASV ERV DRB Psalm 91 -- He who dwells in the secret place of the Most High NIV NLT ESV NAS GWT KJV ASV ERV DRB Psalm 92 -- It is a good thing to give thanks to the Lord NIV NLT ESV NAS GWT KJV ASV ERV DRB New Testament Reading Romans 11:1-21 Romans 11 -- The Remnant Chosen by Grace; Ingrafted Branches; All Israel Will Be Saved NIV NLT ESV NAS GWT KJV ASV ERV DRB Reading Plan Courtesy of Christian Classics Etherial Library. Tyndale Life Application Daily Devotion As it is written in the Scriptures, ‘They will all be taught by God.' Everyone who listens to the Father and learns from him comes to me.Insight Jesus was alluding to an Old Testament view of the Messianic kingdom in which all people are taught directly by God. He was stressing the importance of not merely hearing, but learning. Challenge We are taught by God through the Bible, our experiences, the thoughts the Holy Spirit brings, and relationships with other Christians. Are you open to God's teaching? Morning and Evening by Spurgeon 2 Thessalonians 2:16 Everlasting consolation."Consolation." There is music in the word: like David's harp, it charms away the evil spirit of melancholy. It was a distinguished honor to Barnabas to be called "the son of consolation;" nay, it is one of the illustrious names of a greater than Barnabas, for the Lord Jesus is "the consolation of Israel." "Everlasting consolation"--here is the cream of all, for the eternity of comfort is the crown and glory of it. What is this "everlasting consolation"? It includes a sense of pardoned sin. A Christian man has received in his heart the witness of the Spirit that his iniquities are put away like a cloud, and his transgressions like a thick cloud. If sin be pardoned, is not that an everlasting consolation? Next, the Lord gives his people an abiding sense of acceptance in Christ. The Christian knows that God looks upon him as standing in union with Jesus. Union to the risen Lord is a consolation of the most abiding order; it is, in fact, everlasting. Let sickness prostrate us, have we not seen hundreds of believers as happy in the weakness of disease as they would have been in the strength of hale and blooming health? Let death's arrows pierce us to the heart, our comfort dies not, for have not our ears full often heard the songs of saints as they have rejoiced because the living love of God was shed abroad in their hearts in dying moments? Yes, a sense of acceptance in the Beloved is an everlasting consolation. Moreover, the Christian has a conviction of his security. God has promised to save those who trust in Christ: the Christian does trust in Christ, and he believes that God will be as good as his word, and will save him. He feels that he is safe by virtue of his being bound up with the person and work of Jesus. Daily Light on the Daily Path Job 38:19 "Where is the way to the dwelling of light? And darkness, where is its place,1 John 1:5 This is the message we have heard from Him and announce to you, that God is Light, and in Him there is no darkness at all. John 9:5 "While I am in the world, I am the Light of the world." 1 John 1:6,7 If we say that we have fellowship with Him and yet walk in the darkness, we lie and do not practice the truth; • but if we walk in the Light as He Himself is in the Light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus His Son cleanses us from all sin. Colossians 1:12-14 giving thanks to the Father, who has qualified us to share in the inheritance of the saints in Light. • For He rescued us from the domain of darkness, and transferred us to the kingdom of His beloved Son, • in whom we have redemption, the forgiveness of sins. 1 Thessalonians 5:5 for you are all sons of light and sons of day. We are not of night nor of darkness; Matthew 5:14,16 "You are the light of the world. A city set on a hill cannot be hidden; • "Let your light shine before men in such a way that they may see your good works, and glorify your Father who is in heaven. New American Standard Bible Copyright © 1960, 1962, 1963, 1968, 1971, 1972, 1973, 1975, 1977, 1995 by The Lockman Foundation, La Habra, Calif. All rights reserved. For Permission to Quote Information visit http://www.lockman.org. |
    |