I WONDER: WHAT DO I NEED?

“Life can be understood only by looking backward, but it must be lived by looking forward.”
 
A backward glance reminds us of the Bible’s answer to the first of our seven wonders of the world - Who Am I?  We understand that we have been created by God to do His will.  The controlling agent, the Bible, convicts us of our separation from God because of sin.  It is at this point that we become conscious of our mistakes and must then ask the present question: “What do I need?”
 
I Need a Mediator.
 
A man on a journey to an unfamiliar place, realizing he is lost, may not say out loud, “What do I need?”  But, his actions show that he understands his need in his present situation.  The first thing he needs is to talk to someone who can tell him where he is and how to get where he wants to go.  He needs a mediator.  A mediator is a go-between, one who helps another achieve something he cannot do on his own.  This is also true spiritually.  Upon realizing our lost condition, we need someone to help us do something we cannot do on our own—find the right direction.  The Bible identifies that Mediator.
 
“For there is one God, and one mediator between God and men, the Man Christ Jesus.” (II Timothy 2:15)
 
Jesus Christ can, as our mediator, do for us what we cannot do for ourselves - help us on our spiritual journey.
 
I Need a Manual.
 
It would be no good to find a mediator who did not know the right way or who knew only part of it.  The lost person still would be lost.  He needs a mediator who knows the way.  He might simply tell the man which way to go or provide him with written instructions.  These  instructions now become the lost man’s manual.
 
“I am the way, the truth, and the life, no man comes to the Father except through  Me.” (John 14:6)
 
This goal is an everlasting destination that is worth all the effort it takes to reach it at the end of the journey.  Our mediator Jesus Christ has left us a manual for our spiritual journey to help us get to heaven—our spiritual goal.
 
“Your word is a lamp to my feet and a light to my path.” (Psalm 119:105).
 
Further we find,
 

“All scripture is given by inspiration of God, and  is profitable for doctrine, or reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness; that the man of God may be complete, thoroughly equipped for every good work.” (II Timothy 3:16-17).

 
The Bible is our manual given to us by the mediator.  Nothing has been left out that we need to know to reach the end of our journey.
 
I Need a Marker.
 
Every journey has a goal or marker that lies at the end of the journey.  It is the destination.  This marker  motivates and encourages us to continue along the pathway leading to the goal.  One marker that everyone will reach is death.  This marker does not motivate and encourage us but it is certain.  The Bible declares,
 
“And as it is appointed for men to die once, but after this the judgment…”
(Hebrews 9:27)
 
But this marker is not our final destination.  Our motivation and encouragement to continue, even knowing that death awaits us, is the real, worthwhile goal that follows death—the possibility of eternal life in heaven.  Our journey through life will affect that goal either to gain it  or to miss it.  In the judgment scene depicted by Jesus in Matthew 25, those who do the will of God are contrasted with those who don’t.
 
“And these shall go away into everlasting punishment, but the righteous into life eternal
life.” (Matthew 25:46)
 
In John 14:1-4, Jesus says He has gone to prepare a place for His disciples with the Father.  Verse 6 is the requirement for receiving it.
 
I Need a Motive.
 
When we take a journey, we usually have a reason for going.  Our spiritual journey also has a reason or motive.  The motive, if sufficiently strong, will keep us plugging along toward our marker no matter what the consequences.  That motive, very simply, is love.  We should want to reach the prepared goal of heaven because of:
 
1) the love that God has for us in sending His Son,
 
“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.” (John 3:16)
 
2) the love Christ had to die for us,
 
“Greater love has no one than this, than to lay down one’s life for his friends.”
(John 15:13)
 
3) our love for God because of His love for us,
 
“We love Him, because He first love us.” (I John 4:19)
 
When we take a journey that is unfamiliar to us, we need help to get us to our destination.  We will need a mediator or one to instruct us how to get there.  We will need a manual or set  of  instructions to follow.  We will need to keep in mind our marker or goal, so that no one or nothing will get us off track.  And we will need to remember our motive or reason for the journey. Our mediator is Christ Jesus; our manual is the Bible; our marker is heaven; our motive is love.  Without these, our spiritual journey will be a complete failure.

— Mike Johnson