“Give me Jesus”

Give me Jesus, you can have all this world, but give me Jesus”.

These words are from a song that one of my favorite artists sings. It goes onto say “when I’m alone, give me Jesus” and “when I’ve come to die, give me Jesus.” Is this kind of song or idea just some over-sentimentality verbiage? I mean doesn’t it sound a little hokey? I’m okay with waking up and saying “Okay, Jesus it’s all about you today” and then go on with my day. I’m certainly okay when things are going haywire in my life to say “Give me Jesus and right now would be awesome!” I’ve sat with people who are dying and they are all about the idea of receiving Jesus at the point of their final moments. But, when we say, “you can have all this world, but give me Jesus” we are saying something totally different!

Most of you know me pretty well and you know that I am an avid reader! I read all the ti

me, which is often why I look tired or my eyes are red and teary. Currently, I’m reading 2 books for a class, a book on vision and the church, a biography on Dietrich Bonhoeffer, a devotional book by James Bryan Smith, and a book by Scott McKnight called One.Life (which you should pick up by the way) not to mention other blogs, websites and the hundred or so emails and texts I get each day. When I was little my grandmother helped me fall in love with reading. My mom said I was a little reading sponge from my earliest days. I love hearing ideas and thoughts and deciding what to do with them.

Sometimes though, I read so much that my brain and my spirit gets overwhelmed. In an attempt to explore and increase my knowledge I find that I actually get distracted, clouded and off from any real direction for my life. It’s like so much is going in the tank that the engine becomes confused. I’m a huge Mac guy, but I love the Microsoft Bing commercials about search overload (I even have an old high school friend who’s appears in a couple). They are true for the internet, but I wonder if they are also true for our relationship with Jesus and faith. I want to explore more every day – I want to go further up and further in at every chance I get. YET, I also want to know that the reason for this desire isn’t just to gorge on information.

When it all settles – the busyness, the overwhelming schedule, the information overload – what I’m left with is the offer of One who has promised better life. One who has promised that I’m never alone. One who has promised that I can grow and not settle for the “less than” that I’m so often convinced I’m worth. One who sees me as a co-heir. One who has given his own life that I might know connection and joy unspeakable.

Jesus loves you! Jesus has given us so much and continues to invite us into something more than we are settling for. That’s a Jesus I want more of. That’s worth it to me.

So, is the song over-sentimentality sappiness? Or is it a mindset and filter to not just know I’m loved but to challenge to offer that same Jesus to all I meet? I’ll take the second option and while I’m at it, you can have all this world, but Give me this one who not only deserves all of me, but the one who is good enough to deserve it!