BROKEN CISTERNS
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.
The Southern Kingdom of Judah and Benjamin had succumb to the sins of the Northern Kingdom and surrounding countries. They had turned from trusting in the Lord their God to trusting in idols made of wood, metal and stone that could not help them. Now they were about to experience God’s wrath and punishment for this, because they had brought it all on themselves. The sad thing was that they didn’t see their turning from God as a sin and resented God’s punishment.
To point out their sinfulness and God’s punishment, God chose a young man called Jeremiah. It was obvious Jeremiah like Moses wasn’t excited in his calling. Moses was called by God to confront Pharaoh about letting the Hebrews leave his slavery of them, and go to a land that God had promised Abraham hundreds of years earlier. Now God was calling Jeremiah to confront a nation that didn’t want to hear his message of condemnation and judgment. It’s not surprising that Jeremiah was scared and didn’t want to do it. Like Moses he too claimed he could not talk good enough to demand the respect of the people. But like with Moses God was determined to use him.
It is interesting that God always seems to choose the people with the least self-esteem and even potential to do his most challenging assignments. I think the reason is that these people see the assignment as impossible without the Lord’s help. Because of this they depend more on the Lord and the Lord gets the glory. We see this very thing with Gideon and his army. God took Gideon who was the least of his tribe of Manasseh, and it was the least of the tribes of Israel. Then God took Gideon’s army of 32,000 men and reduced it to 300 to fight the armies of the Midianites, Amalekites and all the other eastern people. God told Gideon that he did it so Israel wouldn’t claim they won the battle by their own strength. Of course Gideon led them into victory, Joshua led the Hebrews to conquer the Promised Land and Moses led the Hebrews out of slavery in Egypt. They were all little train engines that in their own eyes couldn’t do the task, but with God a little is much. He delights in prospering the work of the least to exalt his greatness.
It is interesting how God responded to Jeremiah’s concern that he would fail or even be killed. God told him that his message would not be received by the people, and they would continue to reject the Lord to follow idols. Then God added that it was his calling to confront the people not to change them. God then as a commander might say to his army, “Get yourself ready! Stand up and say to them whatever I command you. Do not be terrified by them, or I will terrify you before them. Today I have made you a fortified city, an iron pillar and a bronze wall to stand against the whole land - against the kings of Judah, its officials, its priests and the people of the land. They will fight against you but will not overcome you, for I am with you and will rescue you.” I can almost see how like a Marine he pulled his shoulders back, put his chest out, and with a serious obedient look on his face clicked his heels together and shouted, “Sir, Yes Sir!” Of course I know he didn’t, but Jeremiah certainly followed his calling in spite of knowing it would not be received well, obeyed and he could expect attacks from it.
I wonder if the apostles kind of felt like Jeremiah at first? In Matthew 28:16-20 we have what has been called the The Great Commission. It says, “Then the eleven disciples went to Galilee, to the mountain where Jesus had told them to go. When they saw him, they worshiped him, but some doubted. Then Jesus came to them and said, ‘All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And surely I will be with you always to the very end of the age.’”
Jeremiah was called to go to the Hebrews to take his message. Now Jesus was calling his apostles to go throughout the world to take his message. It is no wonder some doubted. Jesus had chosen men that were simple everyday people to do a task that on their own they had no chance in fulfilling. But like with Jeremiah, they were not called to succeed. They were called to obey, and let God deal with the results. This is why in both cases we see God remind them that they didn’t need to fear, because he would be with them.
I personally don’t believe that everyone is called to be an evangelist or really have all the other gifts of the Holy Spirit. I Corinthians 12 talks about the gifts of the Holy Spirit, and it is clear that the Holy Spirit determines what gift each Christian will receive for the good of the church. I do believe that each Christian needs to do as I Peter 3:15 tells us in that we need to always be prepared to give an answer to everyone who ask you to give the reason for the hope that you have. But even in this the Holy Spirit will give us the right words to say.
The world is full of people, some in our own house, that have dug their own cistern and have broken cisterns that can not hold water. People all around us are putting their hopes in their own efforts, good luck and literally other gods to make their lives happy and fulfilled. The thing is that anything we trust in other than Jesus will be broken cisterns and will let us down. Only through Jesus will we find real living water, just as we read about in Revelation 22:1,2.
Sometime our call to share our love for Jesus can be very scary and intimidating just like the call for Moses, Gideon, Jeremiah and multitudes of Christians that have preceded us. One thing I know is that when we do it in love and not a condemning and judgmental attitude it will usually be received with respect and we will be blessed in doing it. There are a lot of people all around us that need an encouraging word that will give them a real hope. Remember God takes delight in using the least to exalt his best, and his best is his son Jesus Christ!
Prayer: Holy Spirit please help us to have opportunities to share with others the love and salvation Jesus has for them. Please help us to always do it in love and respect. We ask this in Jesus name.
