“For my people have committed two evils: they have forsaken me, the fountain of living waters, and hewed out sisters for themselves, broken cisterns that can hold no water.”

Jeremiah 2:13

As I’m packing boxes, I’m met with the stunning revelation that I have A LOT of mugs.

Ok, it’s really not that much of a revelation. I’ve had quite the collection over the years. Some of them have cute, clever sayings. Others hold memories from college or people who might’ve gifted me one, feeding my obsession.

I don’t see anything wrong with having these mugs, but I have to shamefully admit that I’ve held onto mugs for longer than I should.

Some are broken. Clearly, useless! I will never be able to drink from them unless I want to get burned, but I keep them around…you know, just in case.

Why do we do that? Isn’t that what we all do?

We hold onto cracked mugs, drink from empty wells, and dig our own broken cisterns because of…what exactly? Fond memories of comfort that brewed complacency? For appearances and aesthetics?

Our broken mugs are different, but the list of empty wells we drink from goes on and on. It’s in our nature to have a taste and then crave more, thinking it’ll be enough. But money, power, perfectionism, appearance, relationships, and all those things we crave isn’t what we’re really hungry for. And no, they will never be enough.

“Just as you can’t make a broken mug hold coffee, you can’t make an idol yield everlasting joy.” – Well-Watered Women.

The promotion you’re longing for won’t be enough.

The savings account balance will never be enough.

The wells of perfectionism, complacency, success, appearance – all of it, will never be enough to satisfy. These wells we dig will always run dry.

While we try to make our pitiful mugs provide for us, there’s a fountain waiting for us to come. One overflowing with streams of mercy + grace . He wants us to drink and be filled so that we don’t grow weary or run dry because that’s how much he cares about us.

So, let’s set aside all of it. The broken mugs of productivity and perfectionism, of money, of power, of success, and any of it that still goes unnamed here because we know there’s plenty.

Together, let’s go to the only one who can redeem every last one of those broken mugs and turn it into a vessel of his mercy + grace. Now, isn’t that a much better pick-me-up than the morning coffee?

On a side note, I still have a lot of mugs I need to figure out a place for and I’ll probably still drink waaayyy too much coffee for my own good. We’re all about grace over perfection here, so I’ll enjoy the coffee on the side and recognize it’ll never be enough to carry me through the day. Only Jesus can do that!