As I continue my journey of the names of God, the Holy Spirit sent me to Jeremiah 2 then Jeremiah 17.
Jeremiah 2:13 (NIV) “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.”
Jeremiah 17:13 (NIV) “Lord, you are the hope of Israel;all who forsake you will be put to shame. Those who turn away from you will be written in the dust because they have forsaken the Lord, the spring of living water.”
I’m understanding in my communication with God that while we know many of His names, we sometimes overlook those that are right in our faces – “Spring of Living Water”. Are you familiar with the story of Jesus and the woman at the well in John 4? Often, we quote verse 10, but let us keep going a bit further.
10 Jesus answered her, “If you knew the gift of God and who it is
that asks you for a drink, you would have asked him
and he would have given you living water.”
11 “Sir,” the woman said, “you have nothing to draw
with and the well is deep. Where can you get this living water?
12 Are you greater than our father Jacob, who gave us the well
and drank from it himself, as did also his sons and his livestock?”
13 Jesus answered, “Everyone who drinks this water
will be thirsty again, 14 but whoever drinks the water I
give them will never thirst. Indeed, the water I give them
will become in them a spring of water welling up to eternal life.”
John 4: 10-13 (NIV)
Wait. Here it is again. That He is the Spring of {Living} Water. We know God is the Living Water. But do we realize that He is also the Spring from which this water flows? A spring is that which something originates or arises from. We constantly ask God for a refreshing of His Spirit but are we asking Him if we’ve clogged up the spring so that His Living Water can flow freely in our lives?
God warns us in Jeremiah 2 that we often create our own cisterns or break those that He has supplied. A cistern is a tank for storing water, especially one supplying taps or as part of a flushing toilet, an underground reservoir for rainwater. You may say, Nakya, we don’t use cisterns now, we have wells to collect our water. Understand the difference. A cistern collects rainwater where a well draws from ground water. Groundwater is found underground in the cracks and spaces in soil, sand and rock. A cistern collects that which falls directly from the heavens. Which do you want?
Just as you cannot put old wine in new wine skin, the size of your cistern determines how much water you can collect. Let’s take that spiritually. How big is your faith?? People walk around speaking the Prayer of Jabez (I Chronicles 4) asking God to expand their territory. But have you made room for the expansion? Has your cistern of faith increased or are you still working with the same size mustard seed you were given when you first recognized Christ as your Lord and Savior?
God has made us promises. Revelation 21:6-7 (NIV) 6 He said to me: “It is done. I am the Alpha and the Omega, the Beginning, and the End. To the thirsty I will give water without cost from the spring of the water of life. 7 Those who are victorious will inherit all this, and I will be their God and they will be my children. And given us warnings Revelation 21:8 (NIV): 8 But the cowardly, the unbelieving, the vile, the murderers, the sexually immoral, those who practice magic arts, the idolaters and all liars—they will be consigned to the fiery lake of burning sulfur. This is the second death.” If we are truly thirsty for God, then we will receive the promises of Revelation 22:1 (NIV) 1Then the angel showed me the river of the water of life, as clear as crystal, flowing from the throne of God and of the Lamb. The choice on receiving the Spring of Living Water is the same for you as it was for the woman at the well. God isn’t looking for the perfect and blameless. He’s looking for those of us willing to be honest and transparent with Him even as we stand imperfect before Him.
19 “Sir,” the woman said, “I can see that you are a prophet.
20 Our ancestors worshiped on this mountain,
but you Jews claim that the place where
we must worship is in Jerusalem.”
21 “Woman,” Jesus replied, “believe me, a time
is coming when you will worship the Father neither
on this mountain nor in Jerusalem. 22 You Samaritans worship
what you do not know; we worship what we do know,
for salvation is from the Jews. 23 Yet a time is coming and
has now come when the true worshipers will worship
the Father in the Spirit and in truth, for they are
the kind of worshipers the Father seeks. 24 God is spirit,
and his worshipers must worship in the Spirit and in truth.”
25 The woman said, “I know that Messiah” (called Christ)
“is coming. When He comes, He will explain
everything to us.” 26 Then Jesus declared,
“I, the one speaking to you—I am he.”
Be A Blessing and Not Just Blessed
- Nakya