Broken Cisterns: Thirsting for the Creator Instead of the Created

by Sarah E. Ivill

Today many of us are figuratively drinking from broken cisterns that hold no water. Rather than finding satisfaction in God, the Fountain of living waters, we seek to satisfy ourselves with the broken cisterns of this world, and we remain discontented.

In Broken Cisterns, Sarah Ivill exposes these broken cisterns—addictions to things like social media, physical appearance, shopping, sex, and others. She helps us understand why we are drawn to these things and how dangerous it is to seek contentment in them. Using Scripture, she also gently and practically leads us to the Fountain of living waters, who will transform our hearts and eternally satisfy our thirst.



Table of Contents:

Part One: Broken Cisterns Lead To…

1. An Imperfect World

2. Disorder, Discontentment, and Death

3. Impure Passions and Incorrect doctrine

4. Enslavement and Infinite Consequences

Part Two: The Fountain of Living Waters Has…

5. Clean water

6. Living water

7. Nourishing water

Part Three: We Respond By…

8. Loving and Enjoying God

9. Trusting and Obeying God

Genres: Christian

160 pages, Paperback

First published August 1, 2020

About the author

Sarah Ivill (ThM, Dallas Theological Seminary) is a Reformed author, mother, homemaker, Bible study teacher, and retreat and conference speaker who lives in Matthews, North Carolina, and is a member of Christ Covenant Church (PCA).

Reviews

[Evan · Rating 2 out of 5]

"Because our hearts are broken from the fall, we trust in broken cisterns instead of in our blessed Redeemer. We look to our health for our hope. We look to our hobbies for our happiness. We look to the stars on our children's report cards for our significance. And we look to our savings for security. Thankfully the tragedy of the fall is not the end of the story."

[Courtney Carrico · Rating 5 out of 5]

A great reminder to thirst for the Creator instead of the created.

[Tania Bingham · Rating 5 out of 5]

Wildly convicting, and yet the hope of the gospel brings comfort.

Sarah Ivill came and spoke this Broken Cisterns message at our church’s annual women’s conference this year. It was an excellent time of teaching, and while nothing beats hearing a person speak in person, this book of the same message was very similar and very good. The image of we sinners preferring to drink from dirty, muddy, gunk filled broken cisterns rather than from the living water Christ offers will forever be seared in my mind. This is what sin does. It enslaves us and destroys us by causing us to want to drink dirty water. But the gospel of Christ brings life and freedom from captivity to our sin through his clean living water. I am thankful for this reminder and conviction that we so often settle for sin rather than seek the Savior. Read it.

[Anoverall · Rating 3 out of 5]

I agreed with a lot of the statements in this book, but for me the tone felt a little too Sunday-schoolish to really be enjoyable. A few times I lost track of her organizational method, and other times I felt the author was preaching to the choir or repeating herself. I think it would be a good book to give a new Christian or for a women's Bible study (it's written specifically for women), but you probably shouldn't just read it straight through as I did. She does do a good job of providing Biblical examples for whatever topic she's on and tying them to our daily lives. I could also tell she really did know a lot about ministering to people in and outside the church.
A couple quotes I liked:
"It's been my experience in ministering to women that far more women believe in God's sovereignty than in His goodness."
"If we don't teach our children about sex, the world will."

[Bess · Rating 2 out of 5]

This book was a disappointment. Broken cisterns are just that. A broken cistern. I normally like this author but I think in this book she is trying to pull something out of nothing.

[Colleen Taylor · Rating 3 out of 5]

Main point/Summary: Sarah writes to the woman who pours everything out of herself, but builds idols to try and fill it back up.

Thoughts on Book: I think it's most beneficial to read in a group or at least with one other person to be able to discuss. She gives guiding questions at the end of each chapter, but I found myself disinterested to answer without someone to talk through them. She had many great points, but I struggled to stay interested often. It also felt like a lot of emphasis was on these "case study women" at the beginning and then just randomly inserted here and there throughout the book.

Favorite Quote: "We have the glorious riches of God's grace at our disposal, and yet we often content ourselves with the broken cisterns of this world." P. 4