Jesus said, “God blesses those who are poor and realize their need for him, for the Kingdom of Heaven is theirs“. This was his first statement Jesus made on His famous sermon on the mount. For a man to enter the kingdom of heaven he should have a need for God. If we follow God for physical needs for the position, status, and earthly good once our need gets fulfilled our heart stops seeking God. Without any need for God, our hearts would not seek. How can we establish the need for God in our hearts? Where does the need for God originates? Let’s understand this through an analogy.
Mother’s love towards the Child
The bond between mother and child is special. The mother knows how to take care of her child. She sacrifices everything for her child from the day she comes to know the child is created in her womb. The mother knows when the child will get up when it will feel sleepy, and how to make it happy. She focuses all her effort on molding and creating the child’s future. In the process of creation, the child goes through discipline, chastise, encouragement, reward, and rebuke from its mother. The punishment does not mean the mother does not love her child. But she punishes and disciplines her child show love.
Similarly, Jesus cares for our needs. He knows us before we were born. He knew what is best for us and disciplines us out of love. C S Lewis wrote, “God whispers to us in our pleasures, speaks in our consciences, but shouts in our pains. It is his megaphone to rouse a deaf world.” A times pain, disappointment, and sickness give an environment to hear God’s voice more clearly than the moments of pleasures and success. Like a mother sacrifice her focus on the child’s welfare and upbringing on the earth, Jesus focuses on our spiritual upbringing and our readiness for heaven. At times it becomes eminent as part of the spiritual journey we might have to go through discipline. The discipline does not mean Jesus does not love us but He disciplines because he loves us.
Child’s love towards the Mother:
The relationship between mother and child is not complete without the response the child provides to its mother’s love. The child knows how to get the attention of the mother by crying out. It knows as soon as it calls out, the mother will come running to help. If the child does not cry out or come running towards its mother, she will not know the needs of her child. The natural need of the child could be hunger, insecurity, pain, or comfort. A child’s love for a mother is driven by natural needs which pushes the child towards the mother. If there is no natural need then there is no need for the child to reach out to its mothers.
Similarly, the relationship between God and man can not be complete without the human response. At times we ask why God has to wait till we call him? Indeed, Jesus need not wait like a mother for a child to cry out in times of need. He knows our hearts and the pain we go through and our deepest desires. But Jesus expects us to use our free will and call out to Him in our times of need. Hence Jesus said, “For everyone who asks, receives. Everyone who seeks, finds. And to everyone who knocks, the door will be opened.”
Our Spiritual Needs
Similar to Child’s natural need for a mother’s love, truly human response to God’s love does not arise unless there is a spiritual need. If we only have physical needs then we will make Jesus a slot machine. The spiritual need arises based on the natural love for Jesus. The love for God buds out of our gratitude for Him. The gratitude arises out of What Jesus has done for us on the cross. He forgave all our past and made us new. If there is no thanksgiving for the forgiveness of our past mistakes then there is no gratitude. If there is no gratitude then there will not be any love for Jesus. If there is no love then our heart will not seek Him. If there is no spiritual need then our relationship with God gets fractured.
Dear friend, the need for Jesus arises and originates at the cross. The deep meditation and understanding of the supreme sacrifice Jesus made for all the sins of mankind. That word mankind includes yours and my sins. That includes the public, private, and most undisclosed secret sins. Jesus took it all on the cross and died a cruel death so that none have to be punished in eternal death.
Jesus said, “Blessed is the Man who has a need for God“. Do you have a strong need? Is your heart overflowing with thanksgiving? If not it’s time to go back to Calvary and ponder what Jesus has done in our life. Apostle Paul narrated it beautifully. “When we were utterly helpless, Christ came at just the right time and died for us sinners. Now, most people would not be willing to die for an upright person, though someone might perhaps be willing to die for a person who is especially good. But God showed his great love for us by sending Christ to die for us while we were still sinners“
Shall we pray? Let’s ask Jesus to fill our life with gratitude. Let there be an immense spiritual need in our hearts. Let it overflow to its brim and help us to love God with all our heart, mind, and soul.
Dear Jesus, You are the prince of Heaven. There is none comparable to you. You are the alpha and omega. The most powerful God. Yet, you humbled yourself and came to this world to die for us. A thousand angels would be ready to die in your presence. Yet you chose to lay down your life for the sake of sinner like me. Thank you Jesus for all you have done for me. Thanks for forgiving my past. I have not been faithful to you. Went far away from you. Yet your arms were always open. Your love never changed. Your compassion for me never reduced. I am so grateful for what you have done for me. Thank you for everything you have done. Please fill my heart with the pure spiritual need. Let me follow you all my life without going right or left. In Jesus’s name, Amen.
Dear friend, Jesus loves you. He cares for you. May God bless you and make you a blessing for many.