Jeremiah 2:13

 Jeremiah 2:13 says, 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.  God said that His people committed two evils.  The had forsaken Him, the source of living water, and had hewn out cisterns that could hold no water.  Through our faith in Christ, we are God's people and have a source of living water, and anytime we look to our own knowledge and ability to live life successfully, we are likewise committing two evils.  We can either put our faith in God or the world, but we cannot do both.  Verse fourteen asks, Is Israel a servant? is he a homeborn slave? why is he spoiled?  Like the people of Israel, we are children of God, and not servants of the world.  We are born again into the family of God, but do we allow ourselves to become spoiled feeling that we are better than everyone else and that God must bless us?  Verse fifteen states,  The young lions roared upon him, and yelled, and they made his land waste: his cities are burned without inhabitant.  Other countries had come to power over the people of Israel because they weren't following God.  Having seen the power of God over all their foes, the people of Israel were once again afraid of the forces of the world.  Verse sixteen adds, Also the children of Noph and Tahapanes have broken the crown of thy head.  God gave two examples of when the people of the world have defeated His people.  Verse seventeen declares, Hast thou not procured this unto thyself, in that thou hast forsaken the LORD thy God, when he led thee by the way?  Through Jeremiah, God asked if the people of Israel had not brought this upon themselves by refusing to obey Him.  If we are being defeated by the world today as Christians, it can only be because we have failed to put our faith in God totally.  Verse eighteen says, And now what hast thou to do in the way of Egypt, to drink the waters of Sihor? or what hast thou to do in the way of Assyria, to drink the waters of the river?  God asked His people what they had to do with the practices of worship of other people.  We cannot obey God and allow any other false worship practices to come into our lives.   Verse nineteen declares, Thine own wickedness shall correct thee, and thy backslidings shall reprove thee: know therefore and see that it is an evil thing and bitter, that thou hast forsaken the LORD thy God, and that my fear is not in thee, saith the Lord GOD of hosts.  God said that the wickedness of His people would correct them and reprove their backslidings.  The fact that that people of Israel had turned their back on God had led to their being defeated.  If we as followers of Christ turn our back on God, then we should not be surprised that the world often defeats us.  Verse twenty adds, For of old time I have broken thy yoke, and burst thy bands; and thou saidst, I will not transgress; when upon every high hill and under every green tree thou wanderest, playing the harlot.  God reminded the people of Israel that He had set them free and that they had promised to be obedient to Him, but now they were worshipping false gods on every high hill.  Though our salvation is secured by God Himself, we cannot allow the things of this world to become more important to us than God is.  Verse twenty-one continues, Yet I had planted thee a noble vine, wholly a right seed: how then art thou turned into the degenerate plant of a strange vine unto me?  God said that He had made Israel His people and asked how they could then follow after strange gods, becoming an unproductive vine to Him.  We may need to ask at times if we have become unproductive for God because we refuse to obey His word and follow after the world instead.  Verse twenty-two concludes, For though thou wash thee with nitre, and take thee much soap, yet thine iniquity is marked before me, saith the Lord GOD.  God told the people of Israel that no matter how much the went through physical cleansing rituals that they remained spiritually unclean.  All the religious practices in the world will not cleanse us spiritually if we are being disobedient to God.