The Water They Chose in Flint

In 2014, the city of Flint, Michigan made a decision that seemed pragmatic at the time. For decades, Flint had received clean, tested water from Detroit's Lake Huron supply — a reliable source that had served the community well. But to cut costs, city officials switched to the Flint River, a waterway long known for its corrosion and contamination. Almost immediately, residents noticed the difference. The water ran brown. It smelled wrong. Children began showing elevated lead levels in their blood. What was meant to save money poisoned an entire city.

The tragedy of Flint wasn't just the contaminated pipes — it was the abandonment of a proven, life-giving source for something cheaper and closer at hand. Officials had access to clean water. They chose the river anyway.

The prophet Jeremiah leveled this same charge against God's people. The Almighty had led them out of Egypt, through wilderness and wasteland, providing everything they needed. Yet Israel walked away from the fountain of living water — the faithful, covenant-keeping God who had never failed them — and dug their own cisterns. Cracked ones. Cisterns that couldn't hold water no matter how much was poured in.

We do the same when we trade prayer for productivity hacks, when we swap the deep wells of Scripture for the shallow streams of self-help, when we choose what's convenient over Who is faithful. The living water is still flowing. The question Jeremiah presses is why we keep reaching for broken jars.