Fixing the Leaks in Your Life
Fixing the Leaks in Your Life
(Styrofoam cup illustration. Put a paper towel down into Styrofoam cup. During service, add water to cup. Throughout service, poke holes in the bottom of the cup with a needle…in the end, we are empty like the Styrofoam cup.)
Have you ever had something “dear to your heart�? maybe a “keepsake�??
What about a favorite something…something silly, but you really like it…maybe a favorite glass, a favorite tool, a favorite pen or pencil?
I am going to tell you a story about a man; I won’t mention his name because it would be self-incriminating. This man has a box.
It isn’t a big box…about this big. But in this box are all of the things that, for one reason or another, have found their way into the box as keepsakes.
This box, mysterious as it sounds, is just an ordinary box made out of ordinary cardboard. To this man, who prefers to remain anonymous, this box kept some of the most valuable things that he had.
This box contained things that some people would find “silly�? or “weird�?, but this box was his box, and he wanted to put his things in the box.
Kindly, this man has allowed me to bring his box and show you a few things that are in his box…will the box be presented.
You see, the things in this box may not be special to you, but they were special to me. I agree that they are silly things that don’t hold very much earthly value, but they did to me.
What earthly treasures do you have that someone else would find silly?
You’ve heard it said that “One mans trash is another mans treasure�?. Do you have treasure that other people would consider trash? Do you have a box of things that you hold dear to you?
Keep the imagination working, and imagine that those things that you hold dear were stolen from you. Imagine your “box�? being stolen. How would you feel?
You would be hurt…maybe devastated.
Now imagine that things were not just items…they were your creation…
Maybe you painted a painting, wrote a book, drew a picture, made something with your hands, what if your creation was destroyed and you had no backup…no copies.
You would be devastated.
Turn with me to Jeremiah chapter 2.
In Jeremiah 1 God gives Jeremiah words to speak, and talks to Jeremiah about what is going to happen. God gives Jeremiah visions of northern kingdoms attacking Jerusalem.
The reason that this is going to happen is because of Israel’s unfaithfulness.
Read Jeremiah 2:1-13.
This is the full text that we will be looking at tonight.
We are going to break it down verse by verse.
Read verse 2 – Do you remember your youth? Do you remember when you were chasing your bride to be?
For me it was not that long ago, so I remember it well. I would write letters to my wife and I would leave them in hidden places for her to find later.
I would also take a letter and put it in the mail to her, even though I was going to see her in a few hours just so she could get excited when she saw a letter in the mail box.
She would come to my work and leave little notes on my windshield…Do you remember the devotion of your youth?
Do you remember what it was like to only want to spend time with your husband or wife? Do you remember that?
That is what God is asking the Israelites…Do you remember your devotion to me?
Do you remember when you followed me through the desert?
Many times that I ask someone how they are doing, they say “fine�?…I ask if anything is bothering them, they say “no�?, but on the inside, there is a leak.
“A leak�? you say? Yes a leak. Time after time God wanted to bless the Israelites, and he poured it on…but time after time, the Israelites missed Gods blessings because everything he poured, leaked out.
How can a broken glass hold water? It can’t! It was the same way with the Israelites. It is the same way with us.
When we allow sin into our lives, we poke a small hole in our spiritual glass. With every sin, the further we are from being spiritually full and fulfilled.
Read Jeremiah 2:3 – This is God reminiscing about how his people used to care about him. They gave to the Lord before and above everything else. Do we today?
Israel was holy to the Lord in verse 3. How often do you see it written that God’s people are holy? Not very often.
God is just remembering the “good ol’ days�? when the Israelites didn’t have many holes in their glass, they followed his commands, and he blessed them for it.
The last part of verse 3 says that God dealt with anyone who messed with Israel. It is difficult for us to believe that God actually protects us, but he does.
Verse 5 – Why did your ancestors chose to leave me, once they found me…ignorance is bliss, but they knew God, and they turned from his…that is ridiculous…or is it?
Don’t we know God, who he is, where to find him, but we still turn from him and sin, and every sin that we hold onto pokes a hole into our glass.
You see, once we’ve found God, he desires the best for us, and he pours the water in our glass, all we have to do is follow his commands, but like Israel, we don’t. After that, the water starts seeping out.
Verse 6 – If it weren’t true, it would almost be sarcastic. God is saying, “why don’t you look for the Lord, after all, he did this and this and this�? read verse 6 again.
Like we talked about a few weeks ago, God gave the Israelites manna…food from heaven, and then they complained that the perfect food that would fulfill all of their nutritional requirements just wasn’t good enough…
But you know what they would say about us? You have the entire Bible…God’s plainly spoken word, and you don’t obey it?
You know about all of the miracles that God did and you don’t believe them? You know about the Messiah who was promised to return, and you don’t follow him.
We think the Israelites are crazy for not following God, but aren’t we just as crazy?
If we aren’t doing these things, we poke another hole in our glass. God desires to pour in a fulfilled life, but it slowly slips away from us.
Verse 8 – Where were the priests…the leaders in all of this? The leaders didn’t know where God was, and the prophets has false gods and idols!
If there is ever a false god or an idol preached from this pulpit, it will be the last time you ever see me here, and I hope that it is the same for you.
The leaders are held accountable for themselves, and the people. These Israelite leaders were useless…they didn’t know how to fix all of the holes in their cups.
Verse 11 – Has a nation ever changed its gods? Think about this, why was the United States of America founded? To escape religious persecution…What was the United States founded upon? The Word of God.
Has a nation ever changed its gods? What do you think…do you think our nation is still following Biblical principles in all it does? We can’t even have the 10 commandments in courthouses!
If it wasn’t for the 10 commandments in the first place, there wouldn’t even be courthouses!
Has a nation ever changed its gods? Israel did and God was not happy with them…America is changing and guess what, it does not make God happy either.
I don’t need to mention abortion, gay marriage, one nation under God…Did you know that there is a bill going to the senate that would revoke the Tax-exempt status of our churches in America if they don’t comply with things like gay marriage and abortion.
The government wants to tax churches based on what they say from the pulpit. It may not seem like a big deal, but turn over your morning bulletin and imagine having to increase the total yearly budget by 20% just to pay taxes!
Has a nation ever changed gods? Yes, and bad things happen when nations leave God.
I’m off my tangent now…
Verse 13 – Have we punched so many holes in our cup that we have forsaken God…do we still have the desire to follow God?
Do you even know God anymore…are the holes in your cup so numerous that you can’t even see that God has a desire to bless you and a greater plan for you life?
Do you have a holey cup…not holy in the Biblical term, but so many holes that God’s blessings are never even seen?
If we don’t patch the holes in our lives what happens?
– Show cup
EMPTY! At the end of our lives, we look back and we are full of holes…sure God’s blessing was on us, but it was useless…wasted.
Return to God tonight, make a commitment to patch the holes of sin that are prolific in your life!
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