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Take a moment and think deeply, what is your greatest need? Is it health or finances? That may be the most common response. I can tell you from my own personal experiences that at different points in my life I would have had different answers to the question, “What is my greatest need?” If you had asked me when I was a 16 year old boy what my greatest need was I would have told you a fast car. When I was 30 years old I was a single father doing my best to raise 3 girls, at that point in my life I would have told you my greatest need was a faithful loving wife to make my family complete. When my grandson James was born I would have told you my greatest need was for a bone marrow donor so he could survive and live a full and complete life. Most days I would still tell you that one of my greatest needs is just a little more money, but honestly I live more comfortably that many people, I have a warm home, plenty of food, a loving family and a beautiful wife that loves me despite my faults.
What is your greatest need? If you’re sick, you may think, “My greatest need is to be healed of this illness.” If you’re unemployed, you may think, “My greatest need is to get a good job to provide for my needs.” If you’re single, you may think, “My greatest need is for a mate.” If you’re in a difficult marriage, you may think, “My greatest need is for harmony in my marriage.” If you have a child who has become ensnared by drug abuse, you may think that your greatest need is for your child to be free from addiction. While all of these are important needs, none of them are your greatest need. The greatest need of every person, whether they recognize it or not, is to have God forgive your sins before you die and face God’s eternal punishment. Health, adequate money, and a happy family are wonderful blessings, but if you die without God’s forgiveness, these blessings will be useless. Your greatest need is to know that God has forgiven your sins and that you are reconciled to the holy Judge of the universe.
The bible tells us that we are all are in need forgiveness, for all have sinned and fell short of the glory of God. And the wages of sin is death and eternal separation from God. However most people think that they are basically good and don't really need forgiveness. The devil tells us that God is tolerant and loving. He couldn’t possibly condemn a nice person like me! Of course, I’m not perfect, but compared to terrorists who blow up innocent women and children and perverts who abuse little children, I’m not so bad. So I can excuse my relatively “minor faults” and dismiss my need for God’s forgiveness.
Ephesians 2: 1-3 NLT Once you were dead because of your disobedience and your many sins. You used to live in sin, just like the rest of the world, obeying the devil, the commander of the powers in the unseen world. He is the spirit at work in the hearts of those who refuse to obey God. All of us used to live that way, following the passionate desires and inclinations of our sinful nature. By our very nature we were subject to God’s anger, just like everyone else.
As sinners, we face God’s wrath. God cannot tolerate sin. Someone had to die for our sins, so God took His wrath out on Jesus, who was the perfect sacrifice, in order to allow us to go to heaven. Jesus took the wrath of God for you and me, so we would not need to be subject to it. Through Jesus’s death, a free gift, we have been glorified.
Hebrews 10:14 NLT For by that one offering he forever made perfect those who are being made holy.
Now being holy, we can approach God’s throne with confidence, because we have been made right with God. Your greatest need is the forgiveness of your sins. For the
