My people have committed two sins:

They have forsaken me,

the spring of living water,

and have dug their own cisterns,

broken cisterns that cannot hold water.

Jeremiah 2:13

This passage hit me like a brick to the head.  It’s another in a series of reminders that my life is full of idols.  When I say “idol”, I don’t mean a primitive graven image, but a substitute for God.  An idol is something other than God that consumes my energy, attention and affection.   My particular idols aren’t unique.  I orient my life toward the acquisition of security, respect, control, comfort and the other things  that I call good.  To the extent that I seek God, it’s often because I see him as the source of those things, not because I desire him alone.

I wish that I had the heart of David who wrote:

The law of your mouth is better to me than thousands of gold and silver pieces. 

Psalm 119:72

Instead I have the heart of Steve, who would like thousands of gold and silver pieces very much, thank you.  Don’t get me wrong, I’m not consumed with fantasies of great wealth, fancy cars and fame.  I just want to be safe and comfortable, preserved in the manner to which I’ve become accustomed.   I seek that security and comfort in the form of money.  That seems a horribly blunt way to put it, but that’s what it is.  I derive false comfort from a positive bank account and the promise of my next paycheck.  If I am to be quite honest, those are the things in which I really put my faith.  I know this because when those things are threatened, I despair.

I try to sanitize my idolatry with nicer words.  “I have to provide for my family.”  ” I just want to be comfortable, not rich.”  “I want my children to have a good future.”  But at core, I’m looking to something other than God to satisfy my needs. 

The thing is, God knows that we need these things.  In fact, Jesus said exactly that in the Sermon on the Mount. 

“Do not worry then, saying, ‘What will we eat?’ or ‘What will we drink?’ or ‘What will we wear for clothing?’  For the Gentiles eagerly seek all these things; for your heavenly father knows that you need all these things.  But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be added to you.”

Matthew 6:31-32

I derive comfort in that, in knowing that God is very aware of my physical needs and has promised to provide for them.  That should end the discussion.  I should be consumed with seeking his kingdom and his righteousness.  He’s taken care of everything else, so I can rest in that.  But in the end, I don’t believe, so I don’t rest.  The Israelites stopped believing too, and when they stopped believing in God’s power to provide for them, they started seeking idols.  That’s exactly what I do.  Though God has never failed to provide, I have often feared his failure to provide, and I’ve looked to idols to satisfy my perceived need.   I forsake God and look to my employer, my investments, my professional competence, my clients, and other earthly resources.  And they all disappoint.  They all fail to satisfy my anxiety.  They are broken cisterns.

Therein lies the second sin that Jeremiah identified and the one that I live in a state of committing – I dig broken cisterns.  I actually expend a great deal of effort and emotional energy in digging those cisterns.  But no matter how much I make or save, those cisterns are broken and won’t hold water.  They may give the appearance of safe storage, but they are broken and they will fail.  Oh, they may produce water, but the water won’t satisfy.  The water will not quench my ultimate need, because my ultimate need is Him, the spring of living water.  I need no cistern to hold him because his living water never gives out.

When I ask myself why I am not experiencing the things that Jesus promised – an abundant life, peace that passes understanding, a life full of joy – I need look no further than my sin of idolatry.  So pervasive is that sin in my life that I start to believe that the stuff of life – accounts, houses, cars, furniture, hard wood floors, entertainment, vacations – will be my reward for faithfulness.  In essence, I believe that the reward for righteous seeking of God should be more stuff – the very thing that impedes my experience of God.  And here is the irony – if I think through the reason I want this stuff, it’s  because I maintain the false belief that they will deliver the abundant life, peace and joy that God has already promised, and that can only come through him. 

My desire for the things that I think will bring me peace is the very thing that keeps me from it.

In Jeremiah’s early ministry he served under Josiah, the last good king of Judah.  Josiah repented of his nation’s idolatry and cleansed the land of Baals, incense altars and Asherah poles - all overt evidences of idolatry.  God blessed him by delaying a promised judgment.  But after Josiah’s death,  bad kings followed and returned to false worship.  Judgment came in the form of  Babylon – the people of God were conquered and exiled.  Everything that they had long feared came to pass because they ceased believing in the one who could actually protect them.

This is not an Old Testament problem.  The Apostle John concluded his first epistle with the simple exhortation, “Little children, guard yourselves from idols.”  I John 5:21.  I always thought that was a curiously obscure way to conclude his letter.  But I am beginning to understand why he did. 

How do I tear down the Baals and Asherah poles in my life?  I’m working on it.  I’ll let you know if I experience a victory worth sharing.

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