Adoption: The Gospel Plan for the Thirsty Soul (Part 1)

My people have committed two sins:
They have forsaken me,
the spring of living water,
and have dug their own cisterns,
broken cisterns that cannot hold water – Jeremiah 2:13

We’re all a thirsty people, wanting deep experiences but blind to where to find fulfilling ones and while we
clamour on about our loneliness, we put a lot of energy into building walls and hiding from each other
Jim Pocta, Licensed Biblical Counselor

When Jeremiah spoke of the people of Israel abandoning their Father’s comfort and delight for false gods, they were in principle abandoning their sonship. They did not believe that God their Father, their own creator, could meet the needs of their longing hearts. Although they consumed more and more from broken cisterns, they remained terminally dehydrated. With every drink that promised “contentment”, their souls moved further and further away from the Father who offered every spiritual blessing in Himself. So, sons became prodigal orphans leaving the arms of a tender father. The prophet says Israel abandoned not a place or a purpose but a person. Reconciliation, therefore, is the restoration of relationship between rebellious orphans into the arms of a loving Father. Like them, we have equally rejected God in our own self-sufficiency. We too are deeply thirsty. To God’s glory, it is adoption then that tells us who we are and who our parched souls’ thirst for. The cry of the soul is the cry for adoption. Gloriously, the Bible begins and ends with adoption.