I need Thee ev'ry hour,
In joy or pain;
Come quickly and abide,
Or life is vain.
There is nothing quite as sweet as getting a worship song stuck in your head and having the lyrics float back into your head throughout the day–often when you need them most. To me, it feels like an affectionate touch from Jesus, a playful reminder that he is there with me and experiencing my day with me. Like a lover pulling your face towards them so they can look into your eyes, Jesus uses so many things to bring our attention back to him.
The lyrics that have been floating around my head for the past week have been from the 1873 hymnal “I Need Thee Every Hour:”
I need Thee, oh, I need Thee;
Ev'ry hour I need Thee;
Oh, bless me now, my Savior,
I come to Thee.
The funny thing is, I really struggle with believing that I need Jesus every hour. My pride hates having that kind of desperation; my fear hates having to depend on someone else. But these lyrics remind us that every instance that we need Jesus is an instance that he shows up for us.
So why do we need Jesus every hour? And why is this a beautiful thing?
1. Provision
“The Spirit of God has made me;
the breath of the Almighty gives me life.” Job 33:4
We depend on Jesus for everything–even our very breath! As much as we trick ourselves into thinking we can do it all on our own, we would be nothing with the provision of Jesus.
Sure, we can handle having a full-time job, raising kids, and working out. But can we provide ourselves with oxygen? Can we cause food to grow by our own stubborn will? Did we even INVENT food, or is that also something that God created to take care of us?
Our sweet trinity provides every breath for us, every morsel of food, every drop of water, every fiber of shelter, every relationship.
The next time you’re conscious of your breathing, thank Jesus for sustaining your life with his own breath.
2. Existence
“Through him all things were made; without him nothing was made that has been made. In him was life, and that life was the light of all mankind.” John 1:3-4
“The Son is the radiance of God’s glory and the exact representation of his being, sustaining all things by his powerful word.” Hebrews 1:3a
Everything that we see, have, experience all comes from Jesus. He created everything in this beautiful world for our benefit. And in him is life!
Jesus sustains our existence. Even though it may feel like the weight of the world is on our shoulders, the truth is that Jesus upholds everything by his own power. We are utterly dependent on him–and he is so happy to be depended on.
3. Grace
“But if we walk in the light, as he is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus, his Son, purifies us from all sin.” 1 John 1:7
Jesus’ blood continually cleanses us from sin. Even when we think we’ve had a “pretty good day” and can’t recall any overt sin that we committed, there’s a 100% chance that we have still “fallen short of the glory of God” (Romans 3:23).
We still secretly harbor jealousy or bitterness towards our coworkers, friends, or family. We still think nasty things about the guy who cut us off in traffic. We still take the last piece of cake instead of considering our spouse.
We sin in a million, instantaneous, indiscernible ways every day. But Jesus’ blood continually cleanses us anyways. What a gift that we receive again and again and again.
4. Belonging
“Yet to all who did receive him, to those who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God–” John 1:12
Belonging to a family is one of the deepest, most inherent, most essential needs that we are born into this world with. It’s how we get our identity, our sense of safety, our purpose, and our bearing in a scary, complex world. And this is something we never grow out of needing.
Even if our family rejects us, we have a family because of Jesus. Even if we reject ourselves, Jesus still gives us a place to belong!
5. Security
“What they trust in is fragile; what they rely on is a spider’s web.” Job 8:14
“See, I lay a stone in Zion, a tested stone, a precious cornerstone for a sure foundation; the one who relies on it will never be stricken with panic.” Isaiah 28:16
Speaking of a scary world, it is extremely disorienting when we realize that the things we typically put our trust in–our jobs, our marriage, our money, our status, etc.--are just spiderwebs. They don’t hold us up for even one second.
But Jesus is the cornerstone that can depended on. He guides the building of the rest of our lives and makes it so we can ultimately know what we’re doing and where we’re going.
As the 1834 hymn “My Hope Is Built on Nothing Less” puts it:
On Christ, the Solid Rock, I stand; All other ground is sinking sand, all other ground is sinking sand.
6. Unconditional Love
“But God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us.” Romans 5:8
In our heart of hearts, we’re all really like golden retrievers, desperate for love and attention at all times (if you’ve owned a golden retriever, you know what I’m talking about).
This is a good thing! The God of love created us, God himself is love. Love gives our existence meaning. Without love, we are alone, purposeless, and darkened. We especially need this unconditional love when we have messed up (which, as I’ve said, happens innumerable times a day).
Even if you’re a tough guy and think you could make it in life without love, just think about the times from your childhood that you were harmed by others’ not loving you the way you needed. We all need love, and we all need it all the time.
Thankfully, Jesus demonstrated that his love is as unconditional as it gets: dying for us while we were still his enemies.
7. Salvation
“Salvation is found in no one else, for there is no other name under heaven given to mankind by which we must be saved.” Acts 4:12
We don’t know when Jesus is coming back or when the day of judgment will be–Jesus himself doesn’t even know! (Matthew 24:36).
And I, for one, don’t wish to be relying on my own righteousness when that day does come. We rely on Jesus’ salvation every second of every day, because we can do nothing on our own (John 15:5).
It is such a beautiful thing that we have Jesus to rely on. He gives us our breath; he sustains our existence; he continually purifies us; he gives us a place at the table; he is our Rock; he loves us no matter what; and he can’t wait to take us home with him as his bride when that day comes.
We do need him every hour. Truly, we need him minute, every second, every millisecond, every nanosecond, for eternity! And thankfully, Jesus himself kindly invites us to depend on him: “Jesus said, ‘Let the little children come to me, and do not hinder them, for the kingdom of heaven belongs to such as these’” (Matthew 19:14).
Photo Credit: ©GettyImages/AtarzynaBialasiewicz
The views expressed in this commentary do not necessarily reflect those of CrosswalkHeadlines.
Kelly-Jayne McGlynn is a former editor at Crosswalk.com. She sees the act of expression, whether through writing or art, as a way to co-create with God and experience him deeper. Check out her handmade earrings on Instagram and her website for more of her thoughts on connecting with God through creative endeavors.