If someone was to ask you, “What is our greatest need in life” what would you say? Before you answer this question stop for a moment and ponder it. Okay, what did you come up with?
• A slimmer waistline?
• A new lipstick red 325 BMW?
• A six-digit income?
• Or for you techies, a new Mac-Air book?
Perhaps it’s no surprise that our culture will offer us the bait of power, prestige and possessions as our greatest human need. However, those pursuits lead to a dead end. They are empty, void and lifeless. Before I answer this question let me say that when we are unsure of our greatest need or fail to live in light of it we become restless spirits trying to find pleasure in the words of Blaise Pascal, by “licking at the earth.”
Since the genesis of time mankind has been on a vigorous quest to answer this question. The ancient sage king Solomon was a restless wanderer in search of meaning through the disparities of life. At the end of his search to discover his greatest need he perplexingly penned the words, “So I hated life, because what is done under the sun was grievous to me, for all is vanity and a striving after the wind.” You can still feel the sting of those ink written words as he desperately shares the depression that branded his heart and soul.
So are you ready for the answer to this question? It’s costly. Okay, here it is: our greatest need is to worship God through living a God-dependant life. That’s not easy in a culture that prides itself on being independent. Frank Sinatra’s famous song, “I did it my way” could be the new American motto. Forget the old and true motto E pluribus unum, “one out of the many” in speaking of the dream of the United States.
Since the beginning of time people have sought to do things their own way and the results have been devastating. The difference between living independent and dependant is chillingly clear from Scripture. From Adam’s fall in the Garden of Eden, to the construction of the Tower of Babel, to Jonah running from the call of God on his life we discover one clear truth: we aren’t meant to live apart from God.
The result of the independent life is paved with consequences and creates in us a restless heart! Nothing creates more unrest than trying to live detached from our Creator. I have personally known this restlessness in my own life, but lest I bore you with musings from my own restless heart let me share with you a life changing quote from Augustine, the great theologian of the past who gave birth to words that have echoed throughout the generations and still ring true in our hearts today. He said in his Confessions, “Thou has formed us for Thyself, and our hearts are restless till they find rest in Thee.” We don’t find rest in God until we first learn to depend on God. Are you tired of being anxious, worried, fearful and restless? If so, I highly recommend God’s antidote to a restless heart: It’s called “dependency!” Just as the eye is useless in and of itself, it needs natural light to complete its ability to see. So too, we as humans need God to be fulfilled and complete. Jesus said, “If you abide in me and my words abide in you, you will bear much fruit, for apart from me you can do nothing.” Jesus taught us in those simple choice words that the independent life is a fruitless life. This was His clarion call to a life of dependency, more than that to a fruit bearing life. So lean into God today. Rest in Him. That is our greatest need. It is our act of worship. And remember learning dependency is a journey, not a destination. Join me in the journey.
Till next time, bC
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