Broken Cisterns Without Water

Modern amenities and my early life don't go on the same line. I have often written about our water situation at my grandparent's farm. The only 'running water' we had was when we took a bucket down the hill to the well, pumped it full, and ran back up the hill with it. 

That was our drinking water. We thought that was a clever joke, but that was the way it went.


In the early days of this country, the proximity of the distance between water and the house was important. Water is a necessary component in our life, and it's crucial for a good life.

John 7:37  Now on the last day, the great day of the feast, Jesus stood and cried, saying, If any man thirst, let him come unto me and drink.38)  He that believeth on me, as the scripture hath said, from within him shall flow rivers of living water.

Also in John 4:6 it reads:  and Jacob's well was there. Jesus therefore, being wearied with his journey, sat thus by the well. It was about the sixth hour. 7)  There cometh a woman of Samaria to draw water: Jesus saith unto her, Give me to drink. 

This, of course, is the springboard for Jesus' exchange with the Samaritan woman in which he tells her "Everyone that drinketh of this water shall thirst again: 14) but whosoever drinketh of the water that I shall give him shall never thirst, but the water that I shall give him shall become in him a well of water springing up unto eternal life." 

Water, so very important and crucial. Besides our well at the bottom of the hill, we also had a clever way to save rainwater for soft water for household use. There was a system of drain pipes to catch and direct rainwater from off of the house, through a drain spout, and into a large, underground cement tank. It was completely tight, not accessible except by a cement lid that could be slid off the twelve to maybe 36 inch top. This large underground cement tank was called a cistern. 

In the spring, after a snowy winter, it would sometimes be overrunning. I'm not sure how many gallons of water it held, but it was several hundred gallons. We had a house pump that pumped water from this cistern into a nice sized three to four-foot sink that drained into a bucket. The water that came from this cistern we used for bathing, washing dishes, washing clothes— anything that you would use soft water for today. We did not use it for drinking.

During some summers our water situation was iffy. When we didn't receive rain (semi-drought), both of our water sources became scarce. My grandmother is remembered for her words of wisdom, and some of those words went: watch the water. Which meant 'our supply is low so do not waste the water'. We knew the worth of water back in those days. You didn't just turn on a faucet and voila' there it was. The drinking water was carried to the house. Even the soft water had to be pumped and carried.

John 4:15  "The woman saith unto him, Sir, give me this water, that I thirst not, neither come all the way hither to draw."

Jeremiah 2:11  Hath a nation changed its gods, which yet are no gods? but my people have changed their glory for that which doth not profit. 12)  Be astonished, O ye heavens, at this, and be horribly afraid, be ye very desolate, saith Jehovah. 13)  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.

This nation needs to turn back to the God on which our foundation has been built. We need to stop floundering between broken people who think they know something and want to impose their broken philosophy on everyone else and the fountain of living water. Broken cisterns will not hold water. They are useless not just in the drought but all year long.

Hallelujah! What a Savior!