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 Job 29:2 Oh that I were as in months past.Numbers of Christians can view the past with pleasure, but regard the present with dissatisfaction; they look back upon the days which they have passed in communing with the Lord as being the sweetest and the best they have ever known, but as to the present, it is clad in a sable garb of gloom and dreariness. Once they lived near to Jesus, but now they feel that they have wandered from him, and they say, "O that I were as in months past!" They complain that they have lost their evidences, or that they have not present peace of mind, or that they have no enjoyment in the means of grace, or that conscience is not so tender, or that they have not so much zeal for God's glory. The causes of this mournful state of things are manifold. It may arise through a comparative neglect of prayer, for a neglected closet is the beginning of all spiritual decline. Or it may be the result of idolatry. The heart has been occupied with something else, more than with God; the affections have been set on the things of earth, instead of the things of heaven. A jealous God will not be content with a divided heart; he must be loved first and best. He will withdraw the sunshine of his presence from a cold, wandering heart. Or the cause may be found in self-confidence and self-righteousness. Pride is busy in the heart, and self is exalted instead of lying low at the foot of the cross. Christian, if you are not now as you "were in months past," do not rest satisfied with wishing for a return of former happiness, but go at once to seek your Master, and tell him your sad state. Ask his grace and strength to help you to walk more closely with him; humble yourself before him, and he will lift you up, and give you yet again to enjoy the light of his countenance. Do not sit down to sigh and lament; while the beloved Physician lives there is hope, nay there is a certainty of recovery for the worst cases. Daily Light on the Daily Path Hebrews 2:14 Therefore, since the children share in flesh and blood, He Himself likewise also partook of the same, that through death He might render powerless him who had the power of death, that is, the devil,2 Timothy 1:10 but now has been revealed by the appearing of our Savior Christ Jesus, who abolished death and brought life and immortality to light through the gospel, Isaiah 25:8 He will swallow up death for all time, And the Lord GOD will wipe tears away from all faces, And He will remove the reproach of His people from all the earth; For the LORD has spoken. 1 Corinthians 15:54-57 But when this perishable will have put on the imperishable, and this mortal will have put on immortality, then will come about the saying that is written, "DEATH IS SWALLOWED UP in victory. • "O DEATH, WHERE IS YOUR VICTORY? O DEATH, WHERE IS YOUR STING?" • The sting of death is sin, and the power of sin is the law; • but thanks be to God, who gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ. 2 Timothy 1:7 For God has not given us a spirit of timidity, but of power and love and discipline. Psalm 23:4 Even though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I fear no evil, for You are with me; Your rod and Your staff, they comfort me. 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. |
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