Sabbath Devotional: Broken Cisterns and Living Water
“Jesus therefore, being wearied with his journey, sat thus on the well.” A woman from Samaria came to draw water and Jesus asked her for a drink. In the exchange that followed, Christ taught her:
“Whosoever drinketh of this water shall thirst again: But whosoever drinketh of the water that I shall give him shall never thirst; but the water that I shall give him shall be in him a well of water springing up into everlasting life.” (John 4:6-10)
I am fascinated with water. Maybe it’s because I grew up in Utah, where, from the time I was very young, I was taught to conserve water, to pray for water, and to be grateful for water. When I lived in New York, I was still fascinated with water, but there, I was fascinated with the abundance. I never grew tired of the many rivers and lakes and regular rain. I was amazed that plants grew without a sprinkler system. We had a dehumidifier in our house, and I remember the first time I emptied the water out of it, I naturally looked for a plant that could use it. I couldn’t imagine simply discarding water.
Because of this fascination, I enjoy thinking about the symbolism of Jesus Christ as the source of living water.
Long ago, Jeremiah was chosen to call the people of Judah to repentance. The Lord tells him, “For my people have committed two evils; they have forsaken me the fountain of living waters, and hewed them out cisterns, broken cisterns, that can hold no water.” (Jeremiah 2:13)
Although there are two “evils” described in this verse, they tend to go hand in hand. First, the people forsook the Lord. They rejected Him as their leader and king. They lost their faith in Christ, and they did not trust Him. Second, they created replacements for Christ. They put their trust in mortality — something that was probably more tangible, but something that could not save them.
The midterm elections are this week. At MWEG, we have worked to prepare for these elections by encouraging civic participation, educating our members and followers about election processes, and empowering people to vote on principles. A lot of us have hopes for how the election will turn out. We have some fear that it won’t go the way we want. We are both nervous and cautiously optimistic about the immediate future.
With all of this in mind, I pose some questions:
Where is your trust placed? Have you hewed a broken cistern that can hold no water? Or is your trust firmly placed in Christ, the fountain of living water?
I am in no way trying to minimize the value of your vote or undermine the importance of the outcome of the election. I want a strong country with a productive government, filled with people of high moral character and expertise. I want a protected and strengthened constitutional democracy. I want to live in a nation where those in power are motivated by service and compassion.
But no matter what happens this week, I am confident that we will be okay. If the outcome is what you think is best, it will not be a reason to become complacent. If things don’t go your way, together, we will not despair, because our hope is in Christ. And when hope is placed in Christ, it becomes an “anchor to the souls of [women], which would make them sure and steadfast, always abounding in good works.” (Ether 12:4)
We can stand sure and steady, continuing in good works, knowing that the source of living water is Christ, not the outcome of an election.
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Image: Lavinia Fontana, “Christ and the Samaritan Woman at the Well,” in public domain.
Megan Rawlins Woods is the nonpartisan root senior director at Mormon Women for Ethical Government.
