broken cisterns

Jeremiah 2:13
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.

God is described as the fountain of living water, but instead we try to drink out of broken cisterns that hold no water. 

Maybe we try desperately to build and maintain the "broken cistern" of our reputation with others, sharing certain information that reflects well on us and witholding things that may show us in a bad light. We think this will bring us love and acceptance from others, but it doesn't satisfy as deep down we wonder what these people would really think of us if they knew everything. So we pretend that the cistern isn't broken and keep trying to drink from it, even though it can not quench our thirst. We need to recognise that the image that we try to project, the mask we put on when interacting with people, the reputation we've spent hours crafting with carefully selected photos on facebook is broken. It results in insecurity, not security. But God is the fountain of living water. We no longer need to worry about defending our reputation because we recognise that we are guilty before him. We no longer need to look elsewhere for acceptance because even though He sees everything, He still loves us, and demonstrated that on the cross. 

This is just one of many broken cisterns that we try to drink from. Everything other than God is a broken cistern that can't hold water and will not satisfy. But God is the fountain of living waters. Go to Him.