“IN A SENSE WE are all hungry and in need, but most of us don’t recognize it. With plenty to eat in the deep freeze, with a roof over our heads and a car in the garage, we assume that the empty feeling inside must be just a case of the blues that can be cured by a weekend in the country or an extra martini at lunch or the purchase of a color TV.

The poor, on the other hand, are under no such delusion. When Jesus says, ‘Come unto me all ye who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest’ (Matthew 11:28), the poor stand a better chance than most of knowing what he’s talking about and knowing that he’s talking to them. In desperation they may even be willing to consider the possibility of accepting his offer. This is perhaps why Jesus on several occasions called them peculiarly blessed” (Frederick Buechner).

There is more to poverty than physical. There is a kind of spiritual poverty where we have everything we could possibly want but lack the one thing we need. Just as we could eat junk food all day and be both overweight and malnourished, so it’s possible to fill our souls to the bursting point and still have that God-shaped hole.

Jesus talked in the Beatitudes about the poor in spirit being blessed. He doesn’t mean that being poor makes you more spiritual. What He means is those who know they have a need they can’t meet are the ones most likely to get in on what the Kingdom of God offers. They will be the first to be all-in on trusting in Jesus because they have nothing else.

So it’s okay to be needy as long as that need drives you to the throne of God and to the feet of Jesus. That’s the best place to be.