Psalms 33-34

Acts 24

“Come, all you who are thirsty, come to the waters...”    —Isaiah 55:1

Sometimes, when people come to Christ, they know that something wonderful has happened in their lives and they are excited about it for a while. But over time, they may begin to slide away. Why does this happen? We find a reason in 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.” When a person turns away from the living God, he does not live in some kind of vacuum; instead, he builds his own cisterns because he needs something that gives life meaning and reason. The only problem is that the cisterns he builds are broken.

        The hymn “O Christ, in Thee My Soul Hath Found” beautifully contrasts looking for satisfaction from our own cisterns versus from Christ:

I tried the broken cisterns, Lord,

But, ah, the waters failed!

E’en as I stooped to drink they fled,

And mocked me as I wailed.

Now none but Christ can satisfy,

None other name for me;

There’s love and life and lasting joy,

Lord Jesus, found in Thee.

        This refrain is also the message Jesus was giving to the Samaritan woman. He says, “Indeed, the water I give them will become in them a spring of water welling up to eternal life” (John 4:14). Other translations, like the NASB 1995, call the spring “a well of water springing up to eternal life.” In either case, here is the idea: the living water Jesus gives will be in us like a well, which is always deep; and it will be in us like a spring, which is always fresh.

        If we want this living water from which we will never thirst again, it has to go deep like a well and be fresh like a spring. We will never find satisfaction in a superficial Christianity, metaphorically tipping our hat to God saying, “Okay, I acknowledge You. I would like to be forgiven and go to heaven when I die.” This kind of commitment will leave us totally frustrated because we will never be satisfied until Jesus Christ goes deep into every part of our lives.

        Are we still drawing out of broken cisterns or are we drawing from Jesus Christ? When we draw deep and fresh with Jesus, we make Him Lord of our life.

PRAYER: Lord Jesus Christ, I want a relationship with You that is deep and fresh. Lead me in Your paths of righteousness in every part of my life. Thank You, Lord.