"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

    I have learned more in the last two months about cisterns and water systems than I ever dreamed. I never imagined how much water a family of five used in a day until we were having to drive it to the house in big jugs. We moved into our beautiful home here in the countryside of northern Benin on January 3 of this year. We understood that there were often water shortages in this part of the country so we prepared for this by building a beautiful, 12,000 liter cement cistern. Unfortunately, the cistern looks nice, but it leaks badly. At the bottom of our property was a dry well that we discounted as a source of water. When I read this verse the other morning, it really caught my attention because of all we have gone through with our own broken cistern. I realized that too often instead of turning to Christ, the Source of Living Water, I turn to other things to meet my needs. I may do good works or any number of things to try and fill up my "cistern" and I feel as though I have water for a time, but invariably it leaks right out and I once more find that I am running on empty. However, when I come to Christ He meets my needs abundantly and guess what? When you come to the fountain of living waters to be satisfied, nothing leaks out!

    I also learned that it is no easy matter to fill a cistern! We have been waiting for the water trucks to bring water to the house for about a month now. When you are trying to fill a broken cistern you are very dependent on others to meet your needs, but when You come to Christ He meets those needs entirely. When you are not looking to others to meet your needs, you are free to minister to those you come in contact with instead of trying to be ministered to by them.

    Our water story has a happy ending. That dry well at the bottom of the property just needed a good cleaning out. It was amazing the things that came out of the bottom of that well! At one point they brought up broken doll pieces, old shoes, even an old football helmet! Once all the junk was out of the well and they dug just three feet deeper, the water came! I cannot tell you what a joy it was to have clean, cool water right here on the property. You see, even when you are relying on the Fountain of Living Water as your source of life, you have a responsibilty to keep your well clean so the water can flow. It is essential that we keep our sins confessed to the Lord and that we repent and live an obedient life.

    So, depend on the Lord to be your source of life and joy, don't try to find joy with any other substitutes, and keep your heart clean and pure before the Lord.

God bless you!

Suzanne Crocker

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