Some of us have tried to satisfy our thirst for meaning and purpose through a person, through possessions, or by pursuing pleasure…only to find that our souls are still parched.  Listen to what God says in Jeremiah 2:13: “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.”

A cistern was a container that captured rain water and was often chipped out of rocky ground.  God says that the people messed up in two ways.  First, they turned their backs on God.  Second, they constructed cracked containers to catch water. 

Most of us try to pour activities or experiences into our lives hoping that they will satisfy our thirsty souls, not realizing that whatever we put in just runs out the bottom. 

Two articles about drug use in Livingston County appeared on the front page of a recent Sunday Pantagraph.  I was saddened to read a 28-year-old woman’s story.  At 15, she was introduced to marijuana and alcohol—and everything changed: “I was trying to fit in with the crowd and the people who were using it.  It made me feel like I had friends.” 

After awhile the marijuana didn’t do it for her anymore.  She tried heroin when she was 17 or 18 and was hooked at the outset.  She described that time in her life: “…I didn’t care about anybody and I didn’t care about who I hurt.  That drug was all that I wanted.” 

I was not surprised to read in this article that Livingston County is considered a “heroin hotspot.”  I can see the emptiness in lives and long for people to be free from bondage and the guilt and shame that go along with it.

Friend, no substance will satisfy your thirst.  That’s why the buzz always wears off and you need another hit or another six-pack.  Whatever you put in will run out.  Only a relationship with Jesus Christ can fill you up!  Everything else will leak and leave you feeling empty.

The offer of Jesus as recorded in Revelation 22:17 still stands: “…Whoever is thirsty, let him come; and whoever wishes, let him take the free gift of the water of life.”  Forgiveness is free…but you have to take it.  You won’t be satisfied until the Savior washes your sins away.