Advent Series: Living Water > Cracked Cisterns

“Is anyone thirsty?
Come and drink — even if you have no money!
Come, take your choice of wine or milk, it’s all free!” (Isaiah 55:1)

Do you know what a cistern is? I want to put myself on blast and say I didn’t.

I always assumed a cistern was a vase or vessel used to store a liquid. That’s on the right track, but a cistern is actually a quite large man-made reservoir of sorts, either above or underground, used to store mass volumes of water. See the photo above for a visual. Cisterns were used during seasons of drought to catch fresh rainfall as a means to hydrate multitudes of people. If you think about a town that didn’t have easy access to natural springs, cisterns were a lifeline.

In the Old Testament, the prophet Jeremiah spoke on behalf of God to the people of Israel, calling them out for walking away from the Lord and turning to idolatry and their own forms of satisfaction.

“For my people have committed two evils: they have forsaken me — the fountain of living water, and dug out cisterns for themselves… cracked cisterns that can hold no water.” (Jeremiah 2:13)

It’s a powerful illustration when you think about the cultural context right?

The Cisterns of Today

Dare I say that what was true then is still true now for us now, living in 2023 America. We are driven to produce, achieve, goal-set, succeed, accomplish, and perform. We need to stand out from the rest, be the best at our career, have the perfectly curated social media presence, and make sure we’re living out our personal version of the American Dream.

Haven’t bought a house or married by 28? Keep digging.

Haven’t gotten pregnant or make a six figure salary by 30? Keep digging.

Haven’t gone viral with online content or mastered inner peace and manifesting your best life now? Keep digging.

Author Drew Dyck appropriately calls these “cisterns of idolatry that will only leave [us] parched.”

Staying busy.

Freedom.

iPhones.

Security.

Escapism.

Altruism.

Pleasure.

These aren’t “bad things” — that would be naive of me. Because let’s be real, a lot of these things are rooted in good desires. In fact if you come from a non-religious background I’m sure much of your sense of purpose in this life might be rooted in these things.

I do want to make the point that on their own, these are all cracked cisterns that cannot hold water permanently and will leave us dry. The best way I can describe it is like this consistent baseline of the melancholy “sunday blues” feeling. You feel me? You’re still left thirsty no matter how hard you strive.

So, I also want to tell you about this interesting concept where Jesus professes to be Living Water and how that is good news for us.

“Woe to him who says to a wooden thing, Awake! To a silent stone, Arise!

Behold, it is overlaid with gold and silver, & there is no breath at all in it.”

Hab 2:19

Living Water

During Advent, we are remembering the arrival of Jesus Christ. He is God — not just a prophet declaring good things. He himself IS the Good News. He declares that He is living water. Why would He choose this image?

Our most basic human need for survival is water. We thirst on a physical level but also on a spiritual level. We are desperate to quench the parched desires listed above and so many more. It’s no wonder Gen Z has coined the term “thirst trap.”

We’re constantly filling broken cisterns with our version of water, thinking it will satisfy but left lapping muddied, contaminated water that is slowly draining out.

But Jesus gives us an invitation -> Come and drink from His fountain of living water. He offers us a life of purpose and partnership with Him. He is the one who opens our eyes to even see clearly that our own cisterns are broken.

Our faith and hope is not just in this 2D transactional exchange of a “ticket to heaven” but we are invited into a 3D technicolor experience of life here on earth; an existence flowing with rivers of living water as we follow the Way of Jesus.

That doesn’t mean a life free from suffering, in fact he predicts that’s par for the course. Yet, in the face of suffering, God promises water to the parched soul that no other thing in this life could ever come close to comparing with. Not money, not a child, not a spouse, or the highest level of success. It’s a water that transcends… it’s wholeness [shalom].

“For they drank from the spiritual Rock that followed them, and the Rock was Christ” (1 Cor. 10:4)

Friend, the refreshing news I want to remind you of is that we don’t have to keep filling up our cracked cisterns. There’s more to life. We have access to know the Living Water who could never be contained in the world’s biggest cistern! He is Emmanuel, God with us. Especially in the hustle and chaos of year’s end…

May we offer our parched selves with open hands & hearts to Jesus. He always fills until our cup runs over. Drink up, it’s free.

And the Lord will continually guide you,

And satisfy your desire in scorched places,

And give strength to your bones;

And you will be like a watered garden,

And like a spring of water whose waters do not fail. (Is. 58:11)