What if I want Jesus and nothing else?

What does it mean to want Jesus and nothing else? This question has been on my heart after a worship service this past Sunday morning. It was so pressing on my mind, I sat down immediately and wrote the question on a greeting card from the back of the service chairs. The question was,  “What does it mean to want Jesus and nothing else?”

Not, “What does it mean to want Jesus above all else?”

Or “What does it mean to want Jesus more than ________.”

There should be no competition of our desire for Jesus in our lives. Easier said than done, I know.

This month, I am evaluating where I spend my time. I know it’s been said that “where you spend your time and money shows me what you value.” Have you ever caught up with someone after the weekend and asked, “How was your weekend?” More times than not, I hear, “Busy.” But busy with what? For me, “busy” can be spending time with friends, binge watching Modern Family, lunch dates, church on Sundays, or going home to see family. All good things. But I probably won’t reply with, busy reading my Bible study, spending time with the Lord at my prayer wall, reflecting on His blessings on my life, serving people He has called me to serve. Basically, I’d rather spend my time running non-stop or lay around my house than spend time tending to the soil of my spiritual life. WHY?

I want the hustle, the next home purchase, the husband and family, the peach and lemon orchard, the career, the adventures, the blessings. The list goes on and on of what I want.

It can dig me in a hole at times, the list of things or experiences that I want. It can be about just “stuff” or true deep desires in my heart. My mind is so BUSY planning the things and experiences I want that I have no mental space to focus on just Jesus.

What would that even look like?

Just Jesus.

“Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy and my burden is light.”

Jesus (Matthew 11:28-30)

To want Jesus and absolutely nothing else is a risk. It is a step of faith and a decision every day to lay down whatever desire I have at the foot of the cross. It is putting second anything that is not Jesus. It’s about releasing whatever present anxiety that haunts me because of wanting what I do not have. As Gretchen Saffles coined in Well-Watered Women, it’s “Jesus + Nothing.” Honestly, I never understood that until this past Sunday. I thought the phrase was too extreme. Like, how could it really be that simple? But it is.

Living everyday to honor Jesus and serve and love people as His hands and feet sounds like a great life. Simple, joyful, focused.

So here’s to new priorities, getting back into prayer and Bible study, and wanting Jesus and NOTHING ELSE.

“The more I know you, the more I want to, and I can’t get enough”

Petit à Petit,