Express Your Neediness

from All is Calm; Receiving Jesus’ Rest This Christmas on Youversion

“Thanks, but I can do it.”

Have you ever turned down an offer for help, even though you really needed it? 

Sometimes it’s hard to admit we can’t do everything ourselves. During all of our Christmas preparations, this sometimes results in exhaustion and crankiness. But this very same self-sufficiency can become deadly in our spiritual lives. 

One day as he saw the crowds gathering, Jesus went up on the mountainside and sat down. His disciples gathered around him, and he began to teach them. “God blesses those who are poor and realize their need for him, for the Kingdom of Heaven is theirs. God blesses those who mourn, for they will be comforted. God blesses those who are humble, for they will inherit the whole earth. God blesses those who hunger and thirst for justice, for they will be satisfied. God blesses those who are merciful, for they will be shown mercy. God blesses those whose hearts are pure, for they will see God.

Matthew 5:1-8

The truth is that we need Jesus. But we often live our lives as if we can get by on our own. It’s not until we take time to reflect on the beauty of God—His holiness, His love and kindness, His atoning sacrifice—that we realize just how desperately we need Him. There’s a vulnerability that comes with admitting our need, but Jesus promises that those who are poor in spirit, who are meek in heart, and who thirst for righteousness, are rewarded with more of God Himself. 

It turns out that expressing our neediness is the only way to receive the glorious riches of Christ Jesus that God has prepared for us. 

Come, let us sing to the LORD! Let us shout joyfully to the Rock of our salvation. Let us come to him with thanksgiving. Let us sing psalms of praise to him. For the LORD is a great God, a great King above all gods. He holds in his hands the depths of the earth and the mightiest mountains. The sea belongs to him, for he made it. His hands formed the dry land, too. Come, let us worship and bow down. Let us kneel before the LORD our maker

Psalms 95:1-6

The psalmist calls God’s people to worship, bow down, and kneel before their Maker. The Hebrew word for worship means to fall prostrate or bow down. Physically, this means to bow our knees in acknowledgment of Jesus’ Lordship; spiritually, it means to surrender all we are to all He is.

This kind of realignment of perspective and priorities is only possible when we first spend time recognizing God’s greatness; worship moves us to a proper view of God, which moves us to confession and repentance.  

“I am the true grapevine, and my Father is the gardener. He cuts off every branch of mine that doesn’t produce fruit, and he prunes the branches that do bear fruit so they will produce even more. You have already been pruned and purified by the message I have given you. Remain in me, and I will remain in you. For a branch cannot produce fruit if it is severed from the vine, and you cannot be fruitful unless you remain in me. “Yes, I am the vine; you are the branches. Those who remain in me, and I in them, will produce much fruit. For apart from me you can do nothing.

John 15:1-5

Jesus illustrates this same point when He calls Himself the Vine, and His disciples the branches. “Apart from me, you can do nothing,” He tells them. “But if you remain in me […] you will bear much fruit.” Surprisingly, Jesus does not call us to work harder to be more fruitful; rather, He calls us to abide in Him, to wait on Him. Those who remain connected to Him will naturally bear much fruit, because His Spirit is the One who produces the fruit. 

Allow your need for Jesus to bring rest and calm this Christmas. The pressure is off. You don’t have to do it all on your own. In fact, you just need to rest. 

And this same God who takes care of me will supply all your needs from his glorious riches, which have been given to us in Christ Jesus.

Philippians 4:19

Reflection Questions: How does the imagery of Jesus as the Vine affect you? What other names of Jesus move you to recognize your own need for Him? What’s one way you can express your neediness and rest in Him today?