Why Don't We Want What We Need?

Like a child who plays with the cardboard box instead of the precious gift inside, we often fail to recognize what is most valuable. Like a person who loses money in a scam or spends a fortune on fool’s gold, we can easily miss a great treasure if we cannot tell the genuine from the fake.

Consider the paralyzed man who was brought to Jesus with great effort by his friends. Jesus looked at him and said:

“Your sins are forgiven.” (Matthew 9:1-8)

The man’s greatest problem was not his paralysis, but his sin. While an observer might have pitied him because he was not immediately healed, Jesus solved his most important problem first.

If you were that man, would you have been satisfied leaving Jesus with your sins forgiven but your legs still paralyzed? Even without physical healing, he would have received the greatest possible gift. Fortunately, Jesus healed him both spiritually and physically.

We Don’t Always Want the Better Things

The Rich Young Ruler

The rich young ruler (Mark 10:17-25) came to Jesus asking about eternal life. When Jesus told him to give up his earthly wealth to follow Him, the young man walked away sad.

He thought he wanted eternal life, but in reality, he preferred his earthly comfort. He exchanged the better, eternal things for temporary, earthly possessions. Today, those riches are long gone, and he is in eternity. He missed out on what he truly needed: eternal life and a heart free from covetousness (greed for wealth).

The Fed Multitude

The multitude (large crowd) that followed Jesus in John 6 tasted the greatest spiritual food: the truth of heaven from the Son of God. Jesus spent hours teaching them and miraculously fed them by multiplying bread and fish.

The next day, the crowd crossed the Sea of Galilee in boats just to chase Him down. Jesus confronted their shallow motives and rebuked them for seeking physical bread rather than spiritual bread.

When Jesus urged them to seek eternal food, they turned their backs on Him. They missed an eternal feast because they were focused only on their daily physical bread.

Our Physical Preference

Sometimes we develop a strong preference for physical things because we can see them. Spiritual things are invisible, and we often have to wait to receive the greater rewards. Ultimately, our main problem is that we do not want what we actually need.

The Struggle Between Wants and Needs

The Samaritan woman at the well (John 4) also sought physical relief. She wanted water that would save her from walking to the well every day.

While Jesus offered eternal gifts, she was looking for quick physical solutions. Jesus’ mention of her relationships showed her attempts to fill her inner emptiness with people.

Once she recognized her true spiritual need and realized that Jesus could fill it, she asked for the living water He offered. One commentator put it this way:

Those who thirst for physical water wake up thirsty every day, and those who try to satisfy spiritual thirst with physical things wake up thirsty every day.

Earthly pleasures, relationships, and achievements can never satisfy spiritual hunger; only the eternal can fill our empty hearts.

Satisfying Our Deepest Need

When many in the crowd walked away, Jesus asked His apostles if they also wanted to leave. They knew that only Jesus could satisfy their deepest hunger and replied:

“To whom shall we go? You have the words of eternal life.” (John 6:66-68)

We are truly blessed and satisfied when we hunger and thirst for righteousness (Matthew 5:6). We become rich when we store up treasures in heaven (Matthew 6:19-21).

Jesus must not be just a small part of our lives; He must be our very life (Colossians 3:1-4). When He is our focus, our spiritual hunger is completely satisfied.

We must desire the words of eternal life, righteousness, and spiritual treasures far more than the temporary things of this world. We must make sure that we truly want what we really need.