ESOCS Devotional 4 April 2024 – Fountain of Living waters
MEMORY VERSE: “For My people have committed two evils: They have forsaken Me, the fountain of living waters, to hew for themselves cisterns, broken cisterns that can hold no water.” Jeremiah 2:13
TEXT: JEREMIAH 2:4-13
Hear the word of the Lord, O house of Jacob and all the families of the house of Israel. 5 Thus says the Lord:
“What injustice have your fathers found in Me,
That they have gone far from Me,
Have followed idols,
And have become idolaters?
6 Neither did they say, ‘Where is the Lord,
Who brought us up out of the land of Egypt,
Who led us through the wilderness,
Through a land of deserts and pits,
Through a land of drought and the shadow of death,
Through a land that no one crossed
And where no one dwelt?’
7 I brought you into a bountiful country,
To eat its fruit and its goodness.
But when you entered, you defiled My land
And made My heritage an abomination.
8 The priests did not say, ‘Where is the Lord?’
And those who handle the law did not know Me;
The rulers also transgressed against Me;
The prophets prophesied by Baal,
And walked after things that do not profit.
9 “Therefore I will yet bring charges against you,” says the Lord,
“And against your children’s children I will bring charges.
10 For pass beyond the coasts of Cyprus and see,
Send to Kedar and consider diligently,
And see if there has been such a thing.
11 Has a nation changed its gods,
Which are not gods?
But My people have changed their Glory
For what does not profit.
12 Be astonished, O heavens, at this,
And be horribly afraid;
Be very desolate,” says the Lord.
13 “For My people have committed two evils:
They have forsaken Me, the fountain of living waters,
And hewn themselves cisterns—broken cisterns that can hold no water.
Read Other ESOCS Devotional here
In the first place, God is the Fountain of living waters. In the New Testament, Jesus is the source of the water of life: “Then He said to me, “It is done. I am the Alpha and the Omega, the beginning and the end. I will give to the one who thirsts from the spring of the water of life without cost” (Rev. 21:6; 22:1-2).
These ancient Israelites had ready and continuous access to the fountains of living water, but they deliberately turned away, forsaking their only hope of life. Do not take lightly the words, “They have forsaken Me, The fountain of living waters.” They could not plead ignorance for they had deliberately forsaken the source of eternal life. Call it what you will, a decline, a drift, a turning away, apathy, or as in today’s jargon, a step onto a slippery slope. Call it what you will, the evil of which God is speaking through Jeremiah is that of forsaking God. Make no mistakes about it, forsaking, neglecting, or even postponing a commitment to the Creator, Sustainer, and Redeemer is nothing less than evil. They were guilty of apostasy, and that was without excuse.
God had chosen these descendants of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob (whose name He changed to Israel). God had provided a place for His chosen people in the fertile land of Goshen when they were but a small tribe, seventy in number. Four hundred and thirty years later, He delivered a nation of two million people by His mighty hand. He had parted the waters of the Red Sea so that they could cross on dry land. He let the water collapse upon the Egyptian army when they pursued them. He had led them to Sinai where he entered a covenant relationship with them. Miraculously, He provided food and water for them in the wilderness. When they refused to follow Him into the Promised Land, He caused them to wander in the wilderness until all who were twenty years of age and older were dead, with the exception of Joshua and Caleb, the faithful spies.
For the next four hundred years, God sought to be their King, but they constantly rejected Him, turning again and again to idolatry. They went through the same cycle over and over: They rebelled and turned to false gods, God raised up an enemy to judge them and they were severely oppressed. They cried out to God for deliverance. He sent a judge (like Samson, Gideon, or Deborah) to deliver them, and they lived in peace as long as that judge lived. Then they started the same cycle over again. God gave them every reason to obey Him and serve Him, but they had continually rejected the fountain of living water.
- Are you like the Israelites? Do you keep turning away from your God and embrace the world?
- O God, help me to embrace you and your ways, and hate the pleasures and of the world.
Further Reading: 1 Samuel 3:1-19; Jeremiah 2:4-13; Galatians 2:1-10
ESOCS Devotional 4 April 2024
