Scripture:
Jeremiah 2:17–18
17
Have you not brought this upon yourself
by forsaking the Lord your God,
while he led you in the way?
18
What then do you gain by going to Egypt,
to drink the waters of the Nile?
Or what do you gain by going to Assyria,
to drink the waters of the Euphrates? (NRSVUE)
Observation:
Jeremiah is speaking to God’s people and warning them about what has happened. Their difficulties, he says, are in part what they have brought upon themselves. God had been leading them “in the way,” but they had chosen another way.
This is the God who brought His people out of Egypt, parted the waters of the sea, and provided water in the wilderness. Yet now they are looking elsewhere for what they need.
Jeremiah asks a couple of rhetorical questions about drinking from other sources. Why go to Egypt to drink from the Nile? Why go to Assyria to drink from the Euphrates? These were the great powers of their world, and God’s people were tempted to look to them for security. But Jeremiah asks, “What do you gain?”
God had been leading them in the way. Why abandon Him to drink from another source?
Application:
Yesterday we considered what it’s like to thirst for God. In some ways, today’s Scripture continues the same question, but with a bit of a twist.
Jeremiah seems to be asking, “What are you thirsty for?”
We carry with us reminders of God’s faithfulness. Today I will spend time studying in the library at Nazarene Theological College in Manchester, England. All around me are reminders of God’s faithfulness. Just the books themselves are filled with the stories and thoughts of those who have gone before and the messages they wanted to pass on to us.
As you enter the library, there are pictures of the Principals of the College going back to the very beginning. The library is named after Hugh Rae, a man I was blessed to know just a little. He loved the Lord, was happy and joyful every time I met him, and gave sacrificially to the College.
And there is Wesley memorabilia all over the place! Herb McGonigle was a Wesley scholar who spent his life studying Wesley and created an incredible collection of items related to his life and ministry.
Everywhere I look, I’m reminded of what God has done in the past, and I’m grateful for those waters!
But this is a new day. The world has changed, and we are facing new challenges. The question is whether, in the midst of those challenges, we will continue to drink from the Source we know has been faithful, or go looking for another water.
We are tempted by all kinds of other waters. We can look to secular culture for our identity. We can look to political power for our security. We can look to wealth and success for our significance. We can even place our confidence in our institutions, traditions, or accomplishments rather than in the God to whom they were meant to point.
And so the question comes back to us: What are you thirsty for?
If we’re thirsty for power, position, wealth, or success, we may not be satisfied with the waters of humility, dependence, and sacrifice. But if we are thirsty for the living God, then we keep returning to the Source.
Stay in the water!
This is living water. This is transforming water. This is sustaining water. This is eternal water. This is satisfying water.
The Nile may look impressive. The Euphrates may look powerful. But neither is the Source.
What are you thirsty for today?
Prayer:
Lord, please deliver me from the temptation to quench my thirst with water that does not come from You. By Your grace, help me remain in Your stream, sustained by Your living water. Teach me to seek my security, identity, and life in You. Amen.
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