What we allow to fill our lives is what we dispense to others. What’s in your cistern?
In ancient Israel, many towns, villages, and cities relied on rain as their primary source for water. They would build a place to store the rainwater at the lowest point of the area. This storage point was a hand hewed cavern in the limestone rock called a cistern.
A cistern would fill up during the short winter season of rain. As the people would use the water the other 7-8 month of the year, the level of water would decrease. The last few months, they were forced to drink the worst water. 
A broken cistern, however, spelled disaster. To maintain this source of drinking water, the cistern had to continually maintained. Even with the most diligent work, contaminants could still enter the water, making an entire village gravely sick.
When the prophet Jeremiah addressed the people of Judah (the Southern Kingdom), he stated that their efforts to build their own spiritual cisterns were futile and ridiculous.
Jeremiah 2:13
“[The Lord declares] 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.”
Notice something that Jeremiah does not say. God is not a different or a better cistern. The people were concerned about the structure that held the fluid. The prophet proclaims that God is the water! He is an everlasting spring of refreshing, pure water.
Every religion of the world and every worldview is cistern building. People are hewing out their own ideas and pursuit of false gods and idols. The One True God, however, is inviting people to trust in Him alone and drink of His water. He does all the work. We worship Him.
God is more than a “better cistern.” He is not something we add to our lives to make it taste better. We do not follow Him simply to be happier or more prosperous in this life. We worship God because He is Life! He is our only source of water that can revive, sustain, and fulfill us.
To fill our lives with anything other than God is disobedient and useless. Also, what we allow to fill our lives is what we dispense to others. If we are taking in the putrid, contaminated water that the world offers us on a daily basis, we will lead people away from God rather than to Him.
What’s in your cistern?
To consider:
Have you trusted Christ as your source of life?
Are you allowing Him to fill your thoughts daily with His Word?
Are you surrounded by people who encourage you to drink from the fountain of everlasting water, that is God?
Prayer point:
Ask God to reveal to you His work and His grace in every detail of your life today.
The next few days, the focus of this short study will turn to the New Testament. Jesus makes a direct link and a controversial invitation regarding water. He did this during one of the most significant festivals in Jerusalem. Check back tomorrow to see how our lives influence others.
If you missed yesterday’s post, the first in this series, here is the link.
Also, if you want to watch the sermon I preached on this topic (Dec. 27, 2015), here is that link.
Shepherding Well 