When the most important thing isn’t your most important thing, then you haven’t got a thing. That’s the convoluted but pertinent thought that came into my mind as I was contemplating what to do next on a recent day. The reality is God is everything to us or He is nothing at all. There is no part-time God. There is only one God, and He demands our full attention and our full devotion.
In return, we get all of Him. It’s a no-lose proposition. And yet every day we live our lives as if we don’t want the deal. We want God sometimes, but living our lives in complete devotion means surrendering too much of our selfish desires. We don’t want to let go, even though we know what we are getting in return is so much better.
There is an old slogan that says, “No Jesus, no peace. Know Jesus, know peace.” When Jesus is not the most important thing in our lives, we will not find peace. Our lives won’t make sense. Sure, we’ll have periods of success and happiness. But deep inside there will be emptiness. Inside each one of us, those who profess Christ as our savior and those who don’t, there is an ache. There is a lack of fulfillment. It’s what drives people to entertainment, drugs, alcohol, and other addictions. We all seek something to soothe the pain, to fill the emptiness. The truth is only Jesus can fill the God-shaped hole in our souls. We are lost without Him.
Once we admit we will never be complete without Jesus, we must also acknowledge that His will is the most important thing in our lives. Our will is irrelevant. We’ve lived in pursuit of our dreams and desires. It never works out. No matter how much success we achieve, how much money we amass, or how famous we become, without Jesus it will be meaningless in the end and will leave our lives devoid of meaning in the here and now.
In everything we do, if Jesus is not the most important thing, we will fail. We will fail to be the person God created us to be. When deciding what we should do next—in big decisions and small—we must choose what Jesus would have us to do. It won’t feel natural, especially at first. Choosing Jesus will get easier the more we do it, but it will never be easy. He is holy and we are sinful from birth. Our will is at odds with His.
If Jesus is not the most important thing in your life, then He is nothing to you. You can’t have it both ways. There is no conditional surrender to Christ. You will devote your life and your will to Him or you will continue to go your own way. You may even think you’re getting away with it. Life is good, and you’re happy. It won’t last. Only Jesus will. Choose Him now or suffer the consequences later. And later may come today. Our goal as followers of Christ must be to serve Him every second of every minute of every hour of every day. Who or what else is worth your life? Only Jesus. Make sure He is the most important thing in every moment of your life today.