God Created Man Needy

In Shel Silverstein's classic poem The Giving Tree, a little boy grows up with an apple tree who loves him.  Though the love of the tree towards the boy does not change, over time the desires of the boy do.  A a child he climbed the tree, swung from her branches, made crowns from her leaves, picked and ate apples, and leaned against the trunk etched with his name and the tree with love.  As time passed, the boy grew older and did not spend much time with the tree.  The tree offered her apples, branches, and trunk which the boy gladly used for his own profit and left for a long time.

There are many aspects to this beautiful poem, but an especially brilliant facet is how the boy was never satisfied or even grateful.  In fact, he never thanked the tree for giving everything she could for him.  Even as the appetite is never satisfied for long, nothing in this world will give us lasting contentment and satisfaction.  Before sin entered the world and death through sin, Adam and Eve had access to all the fruit of the garden of Eden as food.  Yet they transgressed by eating fruit from the forbidden tree.  Obtaining their desire only added to their sorrows.  How many times have people thought they could find satisfaction in a relationship, in money, a career, business success, in stuff, a marriage, in children, an affair, a divorce, re-marriage, pleasure, eating, drinking, entertainment, and collecting - only to find themselves more empty than when they began!  They find themselves strangers in their own homes:  their dreams fading as their lives slip away, screaming for help behind a smiling face, thirsting for love and acceptance, while the reality sinks in that the very things they spent their entire lives to obtain are hollow, burdensome, and lifeless.  People keep falling for the lie that if we just shell out for the latest and greatest thing, find a younger woman, secure the big salary package, or get married we will find the significance we have been lacking.

God made man needy.  He created us to need water, food, sleep, oxygen, and shelter.  He created us with a deep, insatiable longing for companionship, love, acceptance, and recognition.  He put within us a thirst for information, a wealth of creativity, curiosity, and a delight in the beauty of nature.  In His wisdom God designed man to have a relationship with Him that no earthly romance, career, money, or pastime can replace.  Our desire for intimacy with our divine Creator is quenchable only through a relationship with Jesus Christ.  This desire is often masked by other pursuits, and the hubbub of life drowns out and distracts us from this genuine need.  Jesus says in Matthew 11:27-30:  "Come to Me, all you who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. ²⁹ Take My yoke upon you and learn from Me, for I am gentle and lowly in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. ³⁰ For My yoke is easy and My burden is light."  This rest that Christ speaks of is a rest found only in Him through faith.  We are all born in sins, and our greatest need is to be forgiven, cleansed from our sins, and reconciled to God.  The Door we must pass through to meet these needs is through repentance and faith in Jesus as Saviour.  In Him we found profound security, contentment, love, peace, and joy not found in this world.  In fact, the more that we invest in things of this world that are passing away, the less contentment and rest we will have.

Just like the tree continued to give to the boy despite his selfishness and lack of thanks, so God gives to all people - whether they believe in Him or not.  He gives from the inexhaustible storehouses of the riches of His grace.  John 3:16 reads, "For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life."  Jesus has offered Himself as a sacrifice for sin, so all who repent and trust in Him will not go to hell but abide with Him for eternity.  Let us be as children who delight to receive all that the Father has graciously provided with thanksgiving.  He offers us rest in His shade, a place in heaven with Him forever, a place setting at His banqueting table, and a throne of eternal glory.  We are not worthy of such gifts, but let us receive them.  May we honour God by giving back to Him our lives and substance as living sacrifices for His glory.  Let us remember to thank God for His goodness and gifts unto men!  In this God is pleased!