Leaky Cistern!

It's Friday night.  You are getting ready to face the busy weekend. You checked the calendar twice to make sure you are well prepared to receive the visitors this weekend.  All set and you go to bed at peace.  The alarm goes off in the morning, and you are up.  You plan for a quick shower and then hit the road to receive your guests at the airport.  But... But you find no water in the bath.  Pause... Your mind races back ... Oh no... It’s just a leaky cistern which you ignored the previous night, and all the water stored for the next two days are drained!  The drippy cistern was no big deal... But it had drained out all water. 

That is exactly what the Lord says in Jeremiah 2:13, My people have committed two sins. They have forsaken me, the spring of living water and have dug their own cistern, broken cisterns that cannot hold water.  When God, Almighty is talking about living water, which never runs dry - our human intelligence searches for ways to dig our own luxury cistern.  I can call it ‘my own’, and be proud of my handiworks. But still, it’s just a drippy cistern which can run dry, anytime.  

God created the world and planted a garden in Eden. He made all kinds of trees that were pleasing to the eye and good for food.  (Gen. 2:9)  He placed the first couple Adam and Eve in that beautiful garden.  

“Did God really say, You must not eat from any tree in the garden?”, the crafty serpent asked Eve.  The woman clearly knew what God had instructed them. The woman looked at the fruit. When the woman saw that the fruit of the tree was good for food and pleasing to the eye, and also desirable for gaining wisdom, she took some and ate it. She also gave some to her husband, who was with her and he ate it.  And the sin entered!  The mankind which searched for wisdom, when the Tree of Life was at hand, still continues to choose worldly wisdom on every possible occasion.  

Three years back, I fell sick with many complications. My health was deteriorating rapidly. I felt that I was 80+ years old. As the symptoms and pain increased, I popped in all medicine suggested and tried different kinds of home remedies. The Lord said, “I am your healer and I will heal you”.  Yes I understood that, but still with human intelligence I tried medication as knew God can still work with my medicines. He said again, “I am your healer, run after me. Do not run after the healing process”. In my pain, the words fell into the deaf ears. I continued to try – but they all resulted in more complications.

I had no place to go. All healing doors were shut. I laid myself prostrate on His Feet, and said, “Lord heal me as You are my Healer... Where else will I go?”  Miraculously,  God healed me in few months. My health rolled back to its original state. I rejoiced in His healing. 

Jesus said, You study the Scriptures diligently because you think that in them you have eternal life. These are the very Scriptures that testify about me,  yet you refuse to come to me to have life. (John 5:39-40)