Broken cisterns

Many years ago, in the town of Largs on the coast of the Firth of Clyde, one of the magnificent mansions that had been built in the late 19th century was converted into a Conference Centre - retaining the name of the original building: Netherhall. It was used by many Christian groups and, even before we were married to one another, my wife and I spent a number of enjoyable weekends there at Missionary Conferences and suchlike events.

Of course, one of the problems about such an old building was that the plumbing was not up to even mid-20th century standards. The noises that came from the pipes, at the most unwelcome times, is something that anyone who stayed in the building will never forget! One old hymn was often referred to - "I tried the broken cisterns, Lord, but ah! the waters failed"!

Cisterns, of course, are not a modern invention. Archaeologists frequently discover cisterns that have been hewn out of solid rock. Can you imagine - swinging a pick-axe, or using a primitive hammer and chisel, digging such a cistern out of hard, unyielding, stone. You work, and work, through the biting cold of winter, and the blazing heat of summer.

After perhaps years of work - if this is to be a domestic cistern - you finally complete the task. You then step back, and wait for the cistern to fill - and it leaks! You discover that, in spite of your hard work, there is a hairline crack in the rock, and your supply of water slowly seeps away.

That is, in fact, a picture of the futility of our attempts to find real satisfaction in life. It's an age-old problem. We read, in the Tanakh (the Hebrew Scriptures; the First/Old Testament) that Almighty God told the prophet Jeremiah that His 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." (Jer 2:13). The Children of Israel were doing what, sadly, their descendants appear to be doing today. They were looking for satisfaction - but not looking to YHWH, the God of the Covenant. 

About the same time that many of us were spending time in Netherhall, the musical group "The Rolling Stones", sung a song entitled "I can't get no satisfaction!" Ignoring the poor grammatical structure of those words, they convey the experience of so many, even today.

Are you driven by an inner longing; yearning for satisfaction? There is a spring of living water, rising from hidden depths, that is available to you, and will pour into your heart, satisfying you even as it makes you thirst for more. But you must be willing to stoop down and drink!

Only your Creator can satisfy your heart. Everything else will deceive and disappoint. The apostle John records an incident in the life of the Lord Jesus, when He spoke with a Samaritan woman at a well. He said: "... whoever drinks of the water that I shall give him will never thirst; the water that I shall give him will become in him a spring of water welling up to eternal life." (John 4:14).

That is a cistern that will never leak; will never fail; and that is available to all who will come to Him, the fountain, or source, of that living water. The hymn-writer, John W. Peterson wrote these words:

"I thirsted in the barren land of sin and shame

And nothing satisfying there I found;

But to the blessed cross of Christ, one day I came,

Where springs of living water did abound."

You,too, may come - and be satisfied.

Contentment.

It was the apostle Paul who wrote "... I have learned, in whatever state I am, to be content." (Phil 4:11).  But what is contentment?  Paul was not writing from some sun-drenched beach, with the waves breaking gently on the sand, and with a cool drink in his hand.  He was writing from a position of 'house arrest' - in rented accommodation, but with chains holding him to a Roman soldier.  He knew that his 'case' might soon be heard.  He knew that he might be acquitted.  He also knew that he could be beheaded - and that, in fact, is what happened.  Yet he can testify to being "content"!

The secret of that contentment was, of course, that he had found his total satisfaction in God. Regardless of the circumstances in which he found himself, his deep inner peace, and his assurance of the Lord's presence, were unshaken.   He knew, from personal experience, the truth of the words that he later wrote to the young pastor, Timothy, his 'son in the faith' (see I Tim.1:18; II Tim.2:1) - "There is great gain in godliness with contentment;" (I Tim 6:6) or, as another version translates the original Greek language: "... godliness accompanied with contentment - that contentment which is a sense of inward sufficiency - is great and abundant gain." (The Amplified Bible).  That inward sufficiency; that soul-sufficiency; is found only in the Lord Jesus, the Christ.

Many people make the mistake of thinking that that they will be able to find contentment in material things, and in financial riches.  The story is told of a wealthy employer who once heard one of his employees exclaim: "Oh, if only I had £100 I would be perfectly content!"  Knowing that his own great wealth had not given him this inner peace, he told her: "Since I would like to see someone who is perfectly contented, I am going to fulfil your desire."  He gave her the £100 and left but, even before he was out of earshot, he heard her remark, with more than a shade of bitterness, "Why on earth didn't I say £200?"!  The employer smiled.  He had made his point that money doesn't make a person "perfectly contented"!

In the past year or so, there seem to have been an inordinate number of 'celebrity' deaths - quite a few in just the past couple of months.  Some, like Victoria Wood, have died of cancer and, if reports are accurate, with dignity.  But others have died in more suspicious circumstances and, in a number of cases, narcotics of one sort or another have been involved.  These were people who appeared to have "had it made".  But neither fame nor fortune bring real satisfaction.  Decades ago, indeed, that was the 'complaint' sung by the group The Rolling Stones - with the 'rubbery-lipped' Mick Jagger - "I can't find no satisfaction".  I'll ignore the double negative - I know what they were singing.  

Of course, one doesn't have to be a 'celebrity' to be wealthy, and wealth is not the only method of measurement.  There are many highly-cultured, well-educated, people who are far from happy! there many who are wealthy, and even enjoy good health (something that cannot be purchased!) who are, nevertheless, dissatisfied. On the other hand, there are many who enjoy few (if any!) luxuries, and who may even suffer from debilitating health issues yet who, almost physically, radiate joy!  

How can this be?  I would contend that true happiness is not something that the world can give - although it tries to fob us off with imitations.  Soul-sufficiency; true contentment; deep joy; that is not dependant upon our situation or circumstances, is found only in the Lord Jesus, Who said, "These things I have spoken to you, that My joy may be in you, and that your joy may be full." (John 15:11).

True contentment will never be yours until you give Him first place in your life.