Jeremiah 2:13 NIV: 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.
I love moments when I can be near water, whether on the banks of a lake, listening to a babbling brook, or standing at the ocean’s edge as the rhythm of the waves ebbs and flows on the shore. For me, there is something calming about natural bodies of water.
I believe this intuitive pull and recognition of water’s importance is one reason God chose it as a significant metaphor for Himself. In both the Old Testament and New Testament, God and Christ refer to themselves as the fountain or spring of living water.
This metaphor points to eternal life, as flowing water never stops flowing and is thus “alive” forever, just like we will be. It is also used as a metaphor for the Holy Spirit. In John chapter 7, Jesus says whoever believes in him will have flowing rivers of living water, and then explains he means the Holy Spirit. In other words, as believers, we receive the living water that flows or works continually in us as a living counselor, advisor, teacher, comforter, and more.
My favorite metaphor, however, is alluded to in this verse from Jeremiah: Living water, the quencher of thirst for the soul.
Our soul is that indescribable part of us that thinks, feels, and chooses. It is where our desires, longings, ambitions, will, and drive are planted. Like our appetite for food, our souls can be “hungry” or “satisfied,” “thirsty” or “quenched.” When our souls are empty (like our stomachs), it often leads to a restless hunt to find that “thing” to fill us.
The problem, like the people Jeremiah was addressing, is that we try to find water to quench our thirst in man-made things. Just think of all the ways we seek to “fill” ourselves: success, wealth, relationships, entertainment, consumption, escapism. These cisterns not only hold stagnant, murky, and often contaminated water but are often broken and without water, so there isn’t even temporary relief from our thirst.
The heartbreaking reality is that while we keep searching for new reservoirs and new efforts to finally find contentment, the living fresh water Christ offers is right in front of us! I have tasted this water, and what Jesus says is true: “Those who drink the water I give will never be thirsty again.” John 4:14 NLT.
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