Broken Cisterns, Purses with Holes, Bland Food: These are a Few of Our Favorite Things.

"Be appalled, O heavens, at this; be shocked, be utterly desolate, declares the Lord, for my people have committed two evils; they have forsaken me, the fountain of living waters, and hewed out cisterns for themselves, broken cisterns that can hold no water." - Jeremiah 2:13-13

"You have sown much, and harvested little. You eat, but you never have enough; you drink but you never have your fill. You clothe yourselves, but no one is warm. And he who earns wages does so to put them into a bag with holes." - Haggai 1:6

"Why do you spend your money for that which is not bread, and your labor for that which does not satisfy? Listen diligently to me, and eat what is good, and delight yourselves in rich food." - Isaiah 55:2

The Lord graciously continues to reveal to me a clearer understanding of how depraved and without hope humans really are without Jesus. Between watching myself and my closest friends, I have been able to see many things lately that exhibit the deficiencies mentioned in the above verses, of which I will not go into detail. It matters not what exactly happened; only that humans - myself included - continue to prove that unless we are regenerated and renewed by the Holy Spirit, we will always seek that which is lawful and unprofitable over that which is most valuable. In fact, that may be the definition of sin - the forsaking of our greatest Treasure in order to love what is worthless; at least, that is what I take the verses from Jeremiah to mean. "My people have committed two evils: they have forsaken ME, the fountain of living waters, and have hewed out cisterns for themselves, broken cisterns that can hold no water." That is God's definition of evil. As we read about Israel and their idolatry, God sums up their sin by saying that they have forsaken Him and chased after worthless idols. And over this the heavens are to be appalled and shocked; utterly desolate. For the angels, who see God all day, look down from heaven and watch what seems to be insanity: the people of God exchanging Him for things that are not Him. And I'm sure they can't believe their eyes! To them we must look like a people trying to store water in "broken cisterns" and trying to fill with money a purse with holes. We spend the majority of our efforts on things that are lawful and unprofitable rather than becoming obsessed with Him who is the treasure of the universe. We dine on bland food when we have been freed to "eat what is good and delight ourselves in rich food."
And what furthers this sadness, is the justification of the convicted. We read the Word - "a discerner of the thoughts and the intents of the heart" - and we justify to ourselves and, ultimately, to God why we do what we do. We make the mistake of thinking that God desires for us to spend time playing video games and mindlessly watching T.V. We mistakenly believe that God is fine with His people pursuing that which is merely lawful. He murdered His own Son on the cross to free us from lives of pursuing the dull and meaningless; but sure, He'll understand. I say this not looking down on those who read, but looking eye to eye with people who struggle with the same things I do. Do we not do this? We read about abundant life, yet live as though it is not available. The verses above point to eternal and abundant life, but we look to mediocrity and lawfulness to entertain us.
I think perhaps I'd like to end with a question (or questions): What is the Bible's stance on this? Is it not insanity to give time and love to things not conducive to loving Jesus? Is it idolatry when we are anxious for the cares of this world (no matter how small), yet uncaring when it comes to knowing Jesus?