Everything Except Jesus?

Devotional by Chad Nathan

On what the human heart is searching for…

One thing about the human heart is that it is constantly reaching for something. We reach for things like success, relationships, money, recognition, comfort, or entertainment. None of these things are bad in themselves, in fact they can be great but where it becomes a problem is if it becomes our foundation.

And the interesting thing is, after we get that thing we were reaching for that we thought would fulfill us, we find ourselves reaching for something else.

The problem is that we are reaching for something only Christ can give us.

In John 6:35 Jesus tells us “I am the bread of life, whoever comes to me shall not hunger, and whoever believes in me shall never thirst.”

We can spend years trying to fill ourselves with everything except Jesus.

We ask God for peace but we keep holding onto control. We ask God for purpose but we build our identity around our career, accomplishments, and reputation. We ask God to satisfy us but we keep going back to the things that leave us empty.

We want the blessings of Jesus without wanting the Lordship of Jesus.

But Jesus doesn’t call us to add Him to our lives, He calls us to give Him our lives fully. Jesus being Lord means we let Him take the lead, He gets to define what matters, He gets to tell us what to pursue and what to let go of. He gets to have our plans, ambitions, relationships, finances, time, dreams, disappointments, and the parts we want to keep hidden.

Our careers matter but they aren’t our identity. Money matters but it can’t be our security. Success matters but it can’t be our worth. Even the good things God gives us can become dangerous when we start asking them to give us something only God can give.

Jesus isn’t asking us to give up everything so that He can leave us empty. He is asking us to stop trying to find life in things that were never meant to give it.

Everything in life will eventually leave us wanting. But Jesus is enough.

Christ is not something to add to our lives. Christ is the One our lives were made for.