"Your name, O LORD, endures forever; your fame, O LORD, is known to every generation." (Psalm 135:13 NLT)
Every so often, God puts a piece of His Word on our radar, and it stops us in our Bible study tracks and sits us down spiritually.
At least, that was what happened to me the first time I read this passage from Jeremiah 2:13 (NLT): "My people have done two evil things; they have abandoned me—the fountain of living water. And they have dug for themselves cracked cisterns that can hold no water at all."
I imagine the original hearers and readers of this Scripture would have understood the gravity of what God's people had done in a way we don't, because they would have understood the value of easily accessible water in a way most of us are fortunate to be unacquainted with. To "abandon" a good spring—a reliable source of clean, fresh water—and then to compound this folly by digging cisterns that would allow this essential of daily life to drain away would have been horrifying.
Every so often, God puts a piece of His Word on our radar, and it stops us in our Bible study tracks and sits us down spiritually.
At least, that was what happened to me the first time I read this passage from Jeremiah 2:13 (NLT): "My people have done two evil things; they have abandoned me—the fountain of living water. And they have dug for themselves cracked cisterns that can hold no water at all."
I imagine the original hearers and readers of this Scripture would have understood the gravity of what God's people had done in a way we don't, because they would have understood the value of easily accessible water in a way most of us are fortunate to be unacquainted with. To "abandon" a good spring—a reliable source of clean, fresh water—and then to compound this folly by digging cisterns that would allow this essential of daily life to drain away would have been horrifying.
But there is something far deeper here that grieves God's loving heart. Do you see it? "They have dug FOR THEMSELVES..." To access the Living Water, all God's children had to do was humbly trust Him, show up, and drink. But instead, they walked away from that fountain and tried to control their own provision.
Lest we think this does not apply to us, we see that we do the same thing. Instead of drinking deep from the fountain of God's name, which endures forever, I'm prone to abandon it and to try on my own strength to just collect a trickle of God in a defective vessel that wouldn't even hold a shallow, stagnant puddle.
Lest we think this does not apply to us, we see that we do the same thing. Instead of drinking deep from the fountain of God's name, which endures forever, I'm prone to abandon it and to try on my own strength to just collect a trickle of God in a defective vessel that wouldn't even hold a shallow, stagnant puddle.
I settle for a few notes instead of the whole Song. I settle for a few pebbles instead of the Cornerstone. I settle for a few crumbs instead of the Bread of Life.
And yet: the fountain of His name endures. It never runs dry. The Living Water keeps beckoning, "Come thirsty. Drink deep. Be filled. Pour Me out onto others. Then come back and be filled again."
Oh God, Your name endures. Help me to make it known.
And yet: the fountain of His name endures. It never runs dry. The Living Water keeps beckoning, "Come thirsty. Drink deep. Be filled. Pour Me out onto others. Then come back and be filled again."
Oh God, Your name endures. Help me to make it known.
Enjoy seeing these posts pop in my feed each morning! What a wonderful encouragement to be daily reminded of the many names of our God!!
ReplyDeleteAw, thank you, dear Tracey! And thank you for your grace in being bombarded with these every day! ;) It has been a learning journey for me in every possible way. Blessings to you in this graduation season...and extra prayers!
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