Broken Cisterns

’Craving compliments, acceptance & to be loved,
I exhaust myself searching for these things in the opposite sex,
Status and respect,
Facebook, friends, money and other things

But all I have to conclude is that this is like putting £1 coins in a bag with holes in it,
You never get filled,
You are never satisfied’– Extract from my poem titled ‘Insecurities’*



‘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.’- Jeremiah 2:13

If you were thirsty, you would not go and look for bread, you would look for water. Many of us are conscious about living a fairly healthy lifestyle so we can give our bodies what they need—fruit, veg, water, exercise, etc. But sadly most of us are not giving our souls what they need. Did you know that our souls can thirst? (see Psalm 63:1) This world is a dry and thirsty land to our souls, and whether you use an illustration of money or water falling out of holes, the principle is still the same. Nothing in this world can satisfy us. Even with all the money this world can offer, the best parents, the best marriage, lots of children, all the adventures and fun—still we can be empty. Don’t believe me? Ask Solomon, he was the world’s wealthiest man, with all the women a man can desire, lots of power, knowledge and wisdom and at the end of his life he simply stated, ‘it is all vanity’- Ecc 12:8.

So my question is: when your soul is thirsty, where do you run to? Many of us have forsaken God—who is the fountain of living water, the only one who can satisfy—for everything that is broken and can’t hold or give us the water that we need. So many times I have been upset or empty or bored and I run to my phone or TV or friends. But at the end of the day I am still not satisfied but rather more frustrated. Why? because I went to the wrong source.

The Lord encourages us that He is the fountain of living water, the only one who can truly satisfy, and He tells us to come to Him! (see Isaiah 55:1-2)

I challenge you this week to run to God FIRST with everything and let me know how it goes. I also will be taking the challenge. It won’t be easy but I assure you it will be worth it, so fight through the temptation to run to other things. For more encouragement regarding this, I would recommend you to listen to the song ‘Come’ by Idrees Oloyede.

*Poem is from my latest poetry book ‘Swatantra: Poetry birthed on the walk to freedom.’ available on all amazon websites.