Do You Need a Savior?

I tried to change my windshield wipers by myself for the first time this year. Getting the old wipers off was a piece of cake. But getting the new ones on was a different story entirely.

My neighbor came outside and found me sitting on the hood of my car, trying desperately to get my new wiper to click into place.

“Do you need help?” he asked me. Yes. The answer was clearly yes. But of course, I responded with, “No, I’ve got it. Thank you, though!” Deep down, I knew that I needed help. Pridefully, I just wasn’t ready to admit that I couldn’t do it on my own.

Similarly, I held Jesus at arm's length for many years. I believed in Jesus, but for some reason, I couldn’t admit that I needed Him. I knew that Romans 3:23 said, For everyone has sinned; we all fall short of God’s glorious standard (NLT). But instead of asking for Christ to save me from my sin, I was striving to find a way back into God’s good graces myself. Pridefully, I just really wanted to be able to do it on my own.

As I continued to struggle with my windshield wipers, it began to rain. The wipers became slick, my grip slipped, and I ended up slicing my thumb open. I could have avoided hurting myself if I had just accepted the help that had been freely offered to me minutes before.

The stubbornness that kept me from accepting the help freely given to me by Christ had similar consequences. After years of struggling, I realized that no matter how hard I tried, nothing I did on my own could save me from my sin. I finally admitted that I needed help. I needed a Savior.

Yet God, in his grace, freely makes us right in his sight. He did this through Christ Jesus when he freed us from the penalty for our sins. For God presented Jesus as the sacrifice for sin. People are made right with God when they believe that Jesus sacrificed his life (Romans 3:24-25).

Today is Ash Wednesday, a day of fasting and the beginning of the Lenten season that will lead us to Easter Sunday. But it is also a day for us to remember that we are sinners in desperate need of a Savior. The ashes that many will receive today are a sign of mourning and repentance of sins. Let us mourn and repent of our sins and fully admit that we are in desperate need of a Savior.

This Ash Wednesday, I am especially thankful to have a Redeemer who stood as my substitute and paid the penalty that I owed. Jesus did for me what I could never have done on my own. Let today be the beginning of a season of continuous, humble gratitude for what the Lord has done for us.

But I called on your name, LORD, from deep within the pit. You heard me when I cried, “Listen to my pleading! Hear my cry for help!” Yes, you came when I called; You told me, “Do not fear.” Lord, you have come to my defense; You have redeemed my life (Lamentations 3:55-58).

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Scripture quotations are taken from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2007 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Inc., Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.