Teacher, which is the greatest commandment in the Law?  And Jesus replied to him, “You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, all your soul, and with all your mind.  This is the greatest and most important command.”  Matthew 22:36-38 HCSB

We all want to feel needed, right? We want to feel that others need us in their lives. But there are also times when we are needy. We need some help or we need someone to listen to us or we need a shoulder to cry on. Sometimes we are needed and sometimes we are needy. Whether we are the one that is providing the shoulder to cry on, or whether we are the one crying on our friend’s shoulder, we want to know that they are there for us just as we are there for them.

So, with all that being said, are you there for God? We know that God is there for us. We know that we can call on Him in times of trouble. We know that He protects us. But can He count on you?

When we love someone with all our heart, soul, and mind we are there for them. We are faithful to them. We are committed to them. Whether they are needy or needed, they are there and we are there for them. The relationship is reciprocal.

I shudder to think of all the times that I used Jesus as my 911 call. He would come to my aid and then I would forget about Him until the next convenient time for me to go to church or pray or read my bible, which, by the way, wasn’t that often. But then, tragedy would strike and there I was begging at His feet again.

There are those of you reading this that are thinking about that person that only calls when they need something. You also know that if you need them or their help in some matter that is pressing to you, that they will likely be too busy to help or unavailable to even take your call. I thank God for good, Christian friends that are there for me when I need them. I pray to God to help me be that kind of friend to them.

Are you available to take God’s call? When God calls you to be a good witness at work in the way you behave and speak, are you available? Or, do you have to go with the crowd and behave and speak as they do? When God calls on you to go to church and praise Him, are you too busy sleeping in because it’s your only day off? When God calls on you to get out of your comfort zone and witness to someone about the wonderful things He has done in your life, are you too afraid? Do you have a whole bag of excuses as to why you can’t stand up for Jesus? Are you really good at being needy? But, not so good at being needed?

I lived my life this way for many years. I wanted a relationship with God as long as it was all about me. I wanted to be dedicated to Him when it was convenient, but I also wanted to do all the things that my non-Christian friends liked to do. That didn’t work so well. If I had been married to someone like that, it would have been a short marriage. Well, actually I was and it was, but that’s a whole other blog.

Take just a moment to think about your relationship with Christ. Are you as good at being needed as you are at being needy? Are you giving God your all? Are you focusing on Him? You see when we focus on Him he takes care of our needs. That’s the beauty of this whole relationship. Matthew 6:33 tells us to first seek the kingdom of God and all these things will be added to us. If we focus on God, he provides all that we need.

I lived a great deal of my life being needy. Once I began to focus on God, He let me know that I was needed. Once I entered into a close, loving, committed relationship with Him, He showed me  His purpose for my life.  I came to realize that some of the times when I thought my life was falling apart, He was merely putting it into place. I came to realize that my mess could become my message and my tests my testimony.

Once I began to focus on God, I spent a lot less time being needy and a lot more time doing what God needed me to do. Now God takes care of my needs. He wants to do the same for you, are you willing to commit to Him?  Are you willing to give Him your all and trust Him with it? I promise if you do, you will never regret it.

Have a great weekend!