What Do We Really Need?

One fine summer morning we awoke to find one of our mares had given birth in the night to a beautiful little foal. We separated the new mother and her baby from the rest of the herd, placing them in a corral away from the curious noses of the rest of the horses. Everything seemed fine with the mother and baby except we noticed the mare pawing at the earth and eating the dirt. We were concerned since eating dirt has the potential to harm the mother and were mystified by her strange behavior.

Not long after, a neighbor who is an experienced horseman stopped by to see the new foal and we were able to ask him about the mare's odd behavior.
"She's craving salt" he said. He went on to explain that most likely the sweat and strain of giving birth had left the mare depleted of this valuable mineral and she was trying to satisfy her need by eating dirt. We immediately got the mare a salt block and she stopped eating the dirt and licked the salt block until her need was satisfied.

All this made me think about our relationship with God. We are created with some natural needs, one of which is for a relationship with our Creator. If that yearning is not met through a relationship with Jesus Christ, we may seek to satisfy that hunger in our lives in other, unhealthy ways. This world offers no end of distractions that can sometimes dull that craving but the satisfaction is not lasting. True fulfillment only comes from a real relationship with Jesus Christ.