Choosing Jesus is hard. It shouldn’t be, but it is.
Distraction, doubt, guilt, busyness, and emotions all interfere with the Word of God. Before we even realize, we can drift away from His presence – more often than we care to admit. So, for this month’s blog post, I want to talk about the heart behind choosing Jesus.
To begin, I want to turn to Matthew 7:24–27 and focus on Jesus’s own words:
“Everyone then who hears these words of mine and does them will be like a wise man who built his house on the rock. And the rain fell, and the floods came, and the winds blew and beat on that house, but it did not fall, because it had been founded on the rock. And everyone who hears these words of mine and does not do them will be like a foolish man who built his house on the sand. And the rain fell, and the floods came, and the winds blew and beat against that house, and it fell, and great was the fall of it.”
Many of us are familiar with this passage, but I want to draw our attention to the emphasis that Jesus places on both hearing and obeying the Word of God. Whenever we choose Jesus, we are laying the foundation for our lives. This foundation shapes everything: how we respond to people, how we handle pressure, how we access God’s peace in the chaos.
God knows that choosing Him against the world isn’t easy. In Hebrews 13:15, we are reminded that praise is often a sacrifice: “…let us continually offer up a sacrifice of praise to God…”
Note the word “continually.” This isn’t a one-time decision. Even with the foundation laid, when we neglect Jesus and the Word, cracks can form. That’s why we return to Scripture again and again—to strengthen what holds us together.
But how do we do this? How do we choose Jesus over everything? Setting aside time, comfort, and convenience is no small thing and it would be hypocritical of me to come on here and say “just do it” because honestly there are many days where exhaustion wins, and my bible remains closed.
Instead, I say: we fight for it.
We fight by remembering what Scripture says, we are in a battle. We push through the tired, we fight against the anxiety, the apathy, the distractions – against the world. Ephesians 6:11-13 says we put on the full armor of God to take a stand against the devil’s schemes. And while some spiritual battles feel loud and obvious, I think most of our battles our fought silently.
They are fought in the moments where anxiety creeps in, but we choose peace anyway.
They happen when we hold our tongue and pray instead of giving in to anger.
The struggle lies in the small, quiet moments of pain that no one else sees – but Jesus does.
We can take heart knowing that the bible prepares us for these struggles. There are so many verses that acknowledge that God knows how difficult it is, and He meets us with grace and understanding. Let’s take a look at a few verses where God not only shows empathy in our struggle, but declares victory.
We have to be alert and aware that the enemy prowls. He prowls in time, he prowls in exhaustion, in weakness and in fear. He finds the gaps where we may be weak and looks where he can slither in to devour. But Peter also reminds us: you are not alone in your suffering. Others are in this fight too.
God acknowledges the conflict within us, the flesh opposes the spirit. They are naturally opposed to one another. Yet, through our relationship with Him, we are empowered to live by the Spirit. Following these verses, God reminds us, when we walk in step with the Spirit, we begin to bear His fruit (vs. 22-25). We can resist the pull of the flesh and instead reflect the character of Christ.
Of the verses I’ve brought up here, this one is absolutely my favorite. Take captive every thought and make it obey Christ. These words are so empowering. Through Him we have the ability to challenge our thoughts and bring them into alignment with Christ. And the more we obey, the more we are equipped to keep obeying.
Ultimately, that is what it comes down to. By the sacrifice of time and self, we obey Christ. By obeying Christ, we build up endurance and discipline and put on the full armor of God, we are better equipped to sacrifice time and self.
So yes, I guess on some level we do have to “just do it.” But if we’re not aware that we’re in a battle – if we don’t prepare to fight for it – we’ll never have what it takes to follow through.
Today, I pray that you choose Jesus. Despite the shortage of time, despite the sleepless night, despite the pain you feel, despite the struggle. Choose Jesus.
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