Broken Cisterns

Jeremiah 2:1-13
The word of the Lord came to me, saying, 
2 “Go and proclaim in the hearing of Jerusalem, 
   Thus says the Lord,
   “I remember the devotion of your youth,
    your love as a bride,
    how you followed me in the wilderness,
    in a land not sown.
3 Israel was holy to the Lord,
    the firstfruits of his harvest.
    All who ate of it incurred guilt;
    disaster came upon them,
    declares the Lord.”

4 Hear the word of the Lord, O house of Jacob, 
   and all the clans of the house of Israel. 

5 Thus says the Lord:
   “What wrong did your fathers find in me
    that they went far from me,
    and went after worthlessness, and became worthless?
6 They did not say, ‘Where is the Lord
    who brought us up from the land of Egypt,
    who led us in the wilderness,
    in a land of deserts and pits,
    in a land of drought and deep darkness,
    in a land that none passes through,
    where no man dwells?’
7 And I brought you into a plentiful land
    to enjoy its fruits and its good things.
    But when you came in, you defiled my land
    and made my heritage an abomination.
8 The priests did not say, ‘Where is the Lord?’
    Those who handle the law did not know me;
    the shepherds transgressed against me;
    the prophets prophesied by Baal
    and went after things that do not profit.

9 “Therefore I still contend with you,
    declares the Lord,
    and with your children's children I will contend.
10 For cross to the coasts of Cyprus and see,
    or send to Kedar and examine with care;
    see if there has been such a thing.
11 Has a nation changed its gods,
    even though they are no gods?
    But my people have changed their glory
    for that which does not profit.
12 Be appalled, O heavens, at this;
    be shocked, be utterly desolate,
    declares the Lord,
13 for my people have committed two evils:
     they have forsaken me,
     the fountain of living waters,
     and hewed out cisterns for themselves,
     broken cisterns that can hold no water.

We are going to walk through these scriptures examining them very closely and building each day upon another. Today we will focus on verses 1-3.

Jeremiah 2:1-13
The word of the Lord came to me, saying, 
2 “Go and proclaim in the hearing of Jerusalem, 
   Thus says the Lord,
   “I remember the devotion of your youth,
    your love as a bride,
    how you followed me in the wilderness,
    in a land not sown.

The first thing we must understand from verse 1 is that we should be seeking Jesus in such a way that we hear from Him. This will not happen if we are not studying His Word, praying and fellowshipping with our brothers and sisters in Christ. Now when we hear the Word of God, when God reveals something to you, you are to proclaim it boldly and with authority. When God speaks to you, do it and TELL IT, PROCLAIM IT. Then listen to the beauty of God's Word here, God says He remembers the devotion of our youth. God remembers when we first surrendered our life to Him, He remembers how we were so sweetly broken and came to Him understanding that we had nothing to offer Him but a surrendered heart. He remembers whispering to us, that was fine because all He wanted from us was a surrendered heart. God says He remembered how we followed Him. We clung on every word. Told everyone about Jesus, wanted to know every time we could get together with the church. He says, I remember when you followed Me through a land not sown. See God says I remember those first times for you and I. You didn't know what to expect you just loved Me and wanted to be with Me and My people. What happened to you? I am amazed at the excuses people give about why they can't do something for the Lord. Oh it ranges from I am so tired, or my babies have to have their sleep, or I won't be able to get up in the morning. I am not confident enough to lead this person to Lord. I can't pray aloud I am not sure about that. Well let me tell you something, if you want confidence, gather together with like minded people who love Jesus and seek Him daily and stop making excuses and using every thing under the sun, from your job, to your kids to your relationships as an excuse. You do what God does and you remember when you first started following Jesus and you just couldn't get enough of Him, His people or His Word. If your response to that statement is I have never really felt like that, well maybe you have never really surrendered everything to Jesus Christ and truly worshipped Him. We will be on these scriptures for a while I am asking you to read them everyday...yes everyday no excuses. Let us hope that reading God's Word won't interfere to badly with your busy schedule. I hope it want wake your kids or cause you to be late. Yes that was sarcasm, but I am tired of people making no investment in their relationship with God and then whining because the life is a wreck. Invest and see what happens...I mean how is your way working for you now?

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