Don’t Drink from the Puddles

Jeremiah 2:13 “For my people have committed two evils: They have forsaken Me, The fountain of living waters, to hew for themselves cisterns, broken cisterns that can hold no water.”

Why do dogs drink out of puddles? I mean, seriously, there is a bowl of fresh, clean water readily available at all times. Yet every time I let Cherokee out after a storm she runs right to the nearest low spot and laps at the muddy rain water that has collected there.

I wish I could cup her furry, black face in my hands, look into her trusting eyes, and explain all the reasons why lapping from these unclean collections of precipitation is dangerous. I would lecture on the fact that bacteria live within the murky waters. I would warn her of the rampant leptospirosis disease she could catch, causing sickness or even death. I would caution! I would warn! I would beg! But I know it wouldn’t do any good.

For some reason dogs are drawn to that which isn’t always healthy. This habit is hard for us to understand because drinking dirty water is something humans would never purposefully do – or would we?

Jesus calls Himself the Fountain of Living Waters. He offers Himself to all who are thirsty, promising that the pure, clean water of His life and salvation will quench every soul thirst. This fountain will  become a well of water springing up to eternal life. Yet, just like the children of Israel, we tend to forsake this fresh and clean source of refreshment and dig for ourselves broken cisterns that leak.

The woman at the well (John 4) is an example of someone who was trying to meet her inner thirst from the wrong source. When she met Jesus he confronted her with her five husbands and recent live-in lover who was not her husband. He pointed out that she was looking for love and acceptance in all the wrong places. In doing so she was drinking from a dangerous mud puddle that could never quench her thirsty soul.

This generation is not any different. There are thousands of dehydrated individuals trying to fulfill their cravings with pornography, unhealthy relationships, dangerous habits, and ensnaring addictions. But instead of satisfying their rampant thirsts, they are left with a parched soul and ever growing lust for more.

Just like bacteria living in a cesspool of stagnant water can bring disease to the body, so these unhealthy lifestyle choices can bring disease to the mind and soul of each one who insists on drinking from them. Some of the results are a loss of self-respect, the burden of crippling guilt, and often the death of precious relationships.

Why do people drink out of puddles? Because they have forsaken the Lord, the Fountain of Living Waters, and have made themselves broken cisterns that never satisfy.

I am probably never going to be able to convince Cherokee to stay away from mud puddles (Oh, dear, there she goes again!). But I fiercely caution you! I vehemently warn you! I passionately beg you! Stay away from the poisonous choices that the world proposes.

Don’t drink from the puddles. Choose the living water that Jesus Christ has to offer. If you do, you will never thirst again.

Love,

Mama