Wednesday, March 9 / Day 7  

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

“I can do it all by myself!”   — any 2-year-old

It’s called the Terrible Twos, when children want to do things themselves but lack the ability to do them well. They may get their shoes on…the wrong feet. They may help bake cookies, but get more eggshell than egg in the batter. Children in this age group insist on independence and resist supervision, but giving them the amount of freedom they want would be disastrous.

Jeremiah warned the people of Judah that their desire for independence would lead to disaster as well. The people had decided they no longer needed God’s supervision but would live their lives their own way.

Jeremiah used images of water to illustrate the people’s sin. The best    water in the area was from a flowing stream. The worst was from a cistern as the stagnant water became scummy and attracted insects. The people spiritually rejected God and dug cisterns over and over, until God gave them to their enemies and they were carried off into exile.

If you desire self-sufficiency, it will lead to a sort of exile. You turn your back on God and do your own thing. God will not beg you to follow Him. Luke 9:23 reminds us all to take up our cross daily and follow Jesus. We have to continually choose to trust, to submit, to ask God what He wants.

Is self-sufficiency on your plate? It is an easy trap to fall into. We can organize our lives the way we want and no one would know if God was leading us or not. We have to stop and take a look ourselves. Only you can answer this: do you live your life trusting God, prayer-fully asking what He wants you to do? Or have you made a life for yourself, independent of God? If you realize it’s the latter, take some time to repent.

To Think/Pray About Today

One way to move from self-sufficiency to dependence on God: pray over your schedule. Pray that the Holy Spirit will be with you in your meetings with others, your decisions, and your conversations.

Prayer Focus: Cedarville Family Practice