A Full Rain Gauge

 

Has a nation changed its gods, even though they are no gods? But my people have changed their glory for that which does not profit. Be appalled, O heavens, at this; be shocked, be utterly desolate, declares the Lord, 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. (Jeremiah 2:11-13 ESV).

 

Texas weather is often unpredictable (with the exception of the constant changing). The last week has been one of the wettest we have had in quite a while. At my house I’ve measured over nine inches of rain in the last six days. That is not normal for our area, though it will be welcome later this summer when we face the inevitable drought-like weather of full summer and above 100 degree heat. Just this morning while taking my grandson to school I drove through running water over roads that have not had that condition since I moved here over five years ago. There was some traffic as others faced the same dilemma. It was a bit chaotic.

 

Life can present those challenges. History reminds us of the chaos that can result from various changes in our culture or community. In the beginning of the French Revolution (1789-99), many churches in France were converted into “Temples of Reason.” People lifted up the “goddess of reason” to celebrate the new Age of Reason in place of the fading Age of Faith. Not long afterward the Age of Romanticism came along to replace the tyranny of reason by lifting up passions and feelings. Like a pendulum swinging back and forth, each age has its own ideology.

 

Sometimes there is a good reason for the change; however, usually only one side of truth is exalted. And when that becomes idolized, it prompts a reaction. There is a place for reason, a place for emotions, a place for art, a place for science, and much more. But when people highlight ideals over the sovereignty of God, they become idols (false gods) and are eventually found to be inadequate. Idols are ultimately unsatisfying. That is what happened in the days of Jeremiah. “My people have exchanged their glorious God for worthless idols,” said the Lord. “They have forsaken me, the spring of living water, and have dug their own cisterns, broken cisterns that cannot hold water.” Like idols, broken cisterns leave us thirsty and longing for living water, a gushing spring that never runs dry. Regardless of what people may say from age to age in history, Jesus is always the living water who fills us with the gift of eternal life (cf. John 4:14). In the midst of change, will you trust God or a construct of the world destined to deteriorate and leave you without hope…