Unfathomable Grace

My people have committed two evils: they have forsaken me, the fountain of living waters, and hewed out cisterns for themselves, broken cisterns that can hold no water.     (‭‭Jeremiah‬ ‭2:13‬)

It is one thing to forsake God if you have found something better. I suppose no one, other than God, could blame you for your decision. After all, trading in and trading up is something everyone is interested in doing. And who would then care what God thought about the matter? You have placed all your hope, confidence and security in someone or something else better and greater. Your new object of delight and adoration, it will take care of you. 

However, pity the fool who substitutes God for broken, useless cisterns — sports, academics, food, drink, the next high, popularity, your significant other, unbridled hedonism, health and beauty, possessions, the next I-thing, religion, or the Christmas season. How horrid it is to find you have traded the fountain of divine water for a dirty and broken colander. How pathetic to trade God for that which is not God. 

Friends, is not this your history? Isn’t this the overarching story of your life? When you consider your list of fallen messiahs, isn’t your list of idols far too long?

Is not this your present reality? As you look at your priorities, aren’t you poised and ready to substitute him again today?

Thanks be to Jesus Christ who will not let us be satisfied in the arms of another, and will not let us go. So allow your despair to be the impetus that sends you running back into his arms. This was the purpose of Jeremiah’s sermon. This was the purpose of Joe’s blog.