Rev Dr Mar Pongener
As we step into a New Year, the Nagaland Baptist Church Council (NBCC) extends warm New Year greetings to all our churches, families, and believers across the land. We thank God for His sustaining grace through the year gone by and for the gift of new beginnings set before us. A New Year is not merely a change of dates on the calendar; it is a gracious opportunity given by God to pause, reflect, repent where necessary, and renew our commitment to walk faithfully with Him.
For this New Year reflection, I draw our attention to Proverbs 5:15: “Drink water from your own cistern, running water from your own well.” This verse is commonly associated with marital faithfulness, and rightly so, as Proverbs 5 strongly warns against adultery and moral compromise. However, while affirming that biblical emphasis, this reflection intentionally approaches the verse from a broader perspective ‘a call to faithfulness and contentment’ in every area of Christian life as we enter a new year.
This clarification is important so that the verse is not limited only to marriage. The wisdom literature of Scripture frequently uses vivid metaphors to teach enduring spiritual truths. Here, the imagery of a Cistern and a Well invites us to reflect on God’s provision, boundaries, and blessings. As we begin another year, the call is clear: to draw life, joy, and purpose from what God has rightly entrusted to us, rather than seeking fulfilment from borrowed, broken, or polluted sources.
The Context (Proverbs 5:15): The Book of Proverbs is traditionally attributed to King Solomon, a ruler endowed by God with exceptional wisdom. It was written to instruct God’s people, especially the young in wise living, moral discernment, and the fear of the Lord, which is the beginning of wisdom (Proverbs 1:7). Chapter 5 belongs to a larger section (Proverbs 1–
9) in which a father earnestly instructs his son to choose wisdom over folly. In this chapter, Solomon warns against the seductive danger of the “forbidden woman,” symbolizing adultery, moral temptation, and unfaithfulness. The language is poetic yet serious, highlighting both the momentary pleasure and the devastating long-term consequences of unfaithfulness. In contrast to these warnings, verse 15 offers a positive exhortation: “Drink water from your own cistern, running water from your own well.” The cistern and well symbolize what is rightfully one’s own, God-given relationships, responsibilities, blessings, and boundaries.
Originally, this exhortation was addressed to individuals within the covenant community of Israel, calling them to remain faithful to God’s design. While the immediate context highlights marital fidelity, the principle extends further. Scripture often moves from the specific to the universal. At its heart, this verse calls God’s people to exclusive loyalty, disciplined desire, and grateful enjoyment of what God provides, rather than a restless pursuit of what lies outside His will.
Faithfulness and Contentment: Faithfulness and Contentment are deeply interconnected virtues in the Christian life. Faithfulness speaks of steadfast loyalty to God, to His Word, to our calling, and to one another. Contentment reflects a heart that trusts God’s provision and
timing. Together, these virtues form the moral and spiritual backbone of a mature Christian life.
Christianity has been present in Nagaland for more than one hundred and fifty years. God has graciously blessed our land with the gospel, churches, schools, and a rich spiritual heritage. Yet, despite this long Christian history, many Naga Christians continue to struggle with practicing faithfulness and contentment in daily life. Our confession of faith is often strong, but our conduct does not always reflect the values of the Kingdom of God. The Apostle Paul reminds us, “Now it is required that those who have been given a trust must prove faithful” (1 Corinthians 4:2). Faithfulness is not optional; it is a defining mark of those who belong to Christ. However, in our present context, faithfulness is frequently compromised by greed, dissatisfaction, and an unending desire for more: more money, more status, more comfort, and more luxury. Faithfulness is also crucial in our spiritual disciplines. Many believers begin the year with good intentions but gradually neglect prayer, Scripture reading, worship, and fellowship. When our hearts drift from God, it becomes easier to seek satisfaction in money, power, or possessions. The prophet Jeremiah speaks powerfully to this reality: “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). Broken cisterns promise much but ultimately leave us empty.
Contentment is a state of inner satisfaction and peace in which a person gratefully trusts God without constant dissatisfaction or craving for more. It does not mean having everything we want, but being thankful and at rest with what God has provided. Contentment resists greed, envy, and unhealthy comparison. It allows believers to live with integrity, joy, and trust in God’s provision, whether in abundance or in need (Philippians 4:11–12). Contentment does not oppose progress or responsibility; rather, it means trusting God’s wisdom in where He has placed us and how He chooses to bless us. When we learn to “drink from our own cistern,” we acknowledge that God’s provision, however simple it may appear is sufficient and purposeful.
In the Naga context today, the search for “other cisterns” and “other wells” is often seen in the misuse of money, poor financial stewardship, and growing dissatisfaction with what one already has. Many are no longer content with honest earnings or simple living. Instead, there is an increasing tendency to run after wealth and luxury, to borrow irresponsibly, to take what does not belong to us, and even to justify corruption for personal gain. These practices, though common, are fundamentally unchristian and deeply damaging to our witness as followers of Christ.
A Call to Renewal: We live in a time when believers are tempted to abandon their God-given “cisterns” and “wells”: their families, callings, churches, and honest means of livelihood in pursuit of quick success and material gain. Comparison with others, pressure to maintain certain lifestyles, and worldly standards have fuelled a spirit of discontent. The result is not satisfaction, but spiritual dryness, broken trust, weakened community life, and loss of joy.
Scripture clearly warns us: “Keep your lives free from the love of money and be content with what you have” (Hebrews 13:5). The New Year stands before us as both a gift and a responsibility. Proverbs 5:15 calls us to make deliberate choices to remain faithful, to practice contentment, and to draw life from what God has already entrusted to us. As Naga Christians, we must honestly admit that many of the problems we lament in our society are not merely political or economic, but spiritual and moral. As we begin this New Year, the NBCC urges believers across Nagaland to examine their lives sincerely. Are we faithful in how we earn, spend, and manage what God has entrusted to us? Are we content with God’s provision, or are
we constantly longing for more at any cost? Are we guarding our hearts against greed, envy, and compromise? Genuine renewal will come only when we return to God’s ways and recommit ourselves to faithful and contented obedience.
I strongly believe that if every believer truly embraced faithfulness and contentment in our homes, workplaces, offices, churches, schools, and public life, our society would not look the way it does today. Corruption would lose its power. Cheating, dishonesty, injustice, favouritism, misuse of public resources, and exploitation of others would no longer be tolerated. Families would be stronger, churches more credible, and communities places of trust and peace. Transformation of society must begin with the transformation of God’s people. We often ask why our land continues to struggle despite being predominantly Christian. Perhaps the answer lies in our failure to live out the faith we profess. The gospel we believe must shape how we earn, how we spend, how we speak, how we lead, and how we serve.
This New Year invites us to stop chasing empty promises and broken cisterns: wealth without integrity, success without honesty, comfort without conscience, instead to drink deeply from the well of God’s grace, truth, and righteousness. Why not begin now? Why not let this New Year, 2026, be different? Let it be the year when Naga Christians choose integrity over gain, contentment over greed, faithfulness over compromise, and obedience over convenience. Even small acts of faithfulness, when multiplied across homes, churches, and institutions, can bring visible change to our land.
The NBCC calls upon all believers to enter this New Year with renewed devotion. Be faithful in prayer. Be content with God’s provision. Be steadfast in your Christian witness. Let our churches and societies become places where faithfulness is practiced and contentment is taught. Let our lives proclaim that God is enough and that His ways lead to life. NBCC assures all our churches and members that we continue to uphold you in prayer. We pray that the Lord will grant you spiritual renewal, moral courage, strength for every challenge, and joy in every season. May this New Year be marked not by compromise or restlessness, but by faithful obedience and deep contentment in Christ. “May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace as you trust in Him, so that you may overflow with hope by the power of the Holy Spirit”
(Romans 15:13).
Rev. Dr. Mar Pongener
General Secretary
Nagaland Baptist Church Council