We Have a NEED!!!

Dear World,

COVID-19 has arrived! Overwhelmed by the potential of how many people on this globe may contract this new virus, individuals are suddenly aware of "their needs." Grocery store shelves are virtually empty, toilet paper has become the golden commodity overnight, and droves of people are willing to stand in checkout lines for an hour to purchase what's left.

All of a sudden...
     We realize...
          WE HAVE A NEED!

Isn't it strange, we don't understand how much we need something until urgency strikes and it's all gone? I want to start by looking at toilet paper today. (Haha! Those are words I NEVER thought I'd type on this blog.) My guess is most households have had t.p. available for use whenever necessary since, well, since they got out of diapers. We use it every day. Yet, we haven't felt the need for it until now, when it's all but gone. We've assumed there would always be more toilet paper in aisle 14. Now, it's gone and we are hyperaware of our need for it.

This small, squishy roll is the perfect item to illuminate another much greater subject. Our lives, our need, and our hope.

Did you know that every single human has a need? Some people grow hyperaware of this need when they hear the words "cancer" spoken in a doctor's office. Others feel the need as their car spins out of control on an icy interstate. Still, others understand their need at church camp, while the speaker teaches that Jesus came to meet that need. What is it?

We need to be saved.

     Oh, why do we wait until our last days fighting cancer to even talk to God in prayer? Why do so many have a "come to Jesus moment" promising to try to live differently if He'll just get them through this car accident? Must we wait until we see the shelf of our lives are empty before we see we have a need?!?

If the craziness of this time brings anything of value, let it be this:

     WE NEED JESUS! UNTIL WE KNOW WE ARE LOST, WE HAVE NO REASON TO THINK WE NEED TO BE FOUND. John Newton understood this truth when he penned his famous words:
   
                       "Amazing grace, how sweet the sound, that saved a wretch like me.
                        I once was lost but now am found; was blind but now I see."

It is so easy for us to march through our lives doing the routine dailies: Eat, sleep, work, repeat. But the sunrise cries out every day that there is a God who loves us. The bees and flowers are evidence that a creative, wise Being designed this world to its tiniest detail. He's even written His story out for us to know him and wants us to understand, he longs to meet our need to be saved, through His Son, Jesus. But we ignore him and say, "I am doing just fine. I don't have a need." But we all do. Do you know it?  Can you feel your need? Do you want it met? Will you wait until you are in an urgent situation to cry out to Him?

Don't wait. He tells us "And just as each person is destined to die once and after that comes judgment, so also Christ was offered once for all time as a sacrifice to take away the sins of many people. He will come again, not to deal with our sins, but to bring salvation to all who are eagerly waiting for him." (Heb. 2:27-28)

Here's truth: Every single one of us has a body that will die. Yep. 10 out of 10 will die. Bad odds if you're just hoping to make it out alive. You also have a soul and it will live forever. Is yours dead or alive? Sin kills the soul. Jesus makes it alive! That may sound odd to some. But I bet a couple of days ago you would have thought it odd to be asked if you needed food and supplies because you didn't yet feel the need. But if I asked you today, do you need food and supplies, they're considered gracious, life-giving words. Our eyes are opened and hearts are much more willing to talk about needs when they are staring at us in the face.

So today, I ask you, do you need eternal life? Jesus said if we want eternal life with him in Heaven, he is eager to give it to anyone who asks. But it starts by knowing, we have a need. You can't save you. Only the payment on the cross is enough. No matter what your past, how great your sin, Jesus already paid it ALL if you accept his gift and make the exchange --His life for yours.

I hope you're aware of your need for a Savior today. Don't wait until your life is at "the end of the last roll"(excuse the bathroom humor but y'all know it's true) before you see your need because there will come a time, your last day will arrive. Be ready. Be at peace. Know the Prince of Peace.

                    "For God so loved the world that he gave His One and Only Son, that whoever believes in him will not perish, but have eternal LIFE!" John 3:16

Grocery supplies are not endless. Toilet paper can run out. But much more importantly, our days are numbered. Be sure you have NOW what you'll need to make it into eternal life in Heaven. Jesus. 

I love you guys! I hope you do have t.p. but REALLY, I pray today, you see that you need Him!