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I’ve said it a hundred times – Jesus is Better. Beyond just saying it, my prayer is that my heart would believe it. These are not my words but a song that has influenced my life. It has taken biblical truth, a biblical pursuit, and put it into poetic words, adding a catchy tune.
It is because of songs like this and the power of music in our lives that I am going to start a new endeavor. I’m going to call it “Music Monday.” Music hits people in a way that mere words don’t. People connect with it. As followers of Christ, there should be music present in our lives that pushes us onward toward Christ. I want to highlight these things.
The aforementioned song is “Jesus is Better” by the Austin Stone Worship band. The bridge of the song (the part of the song I already mentioned) says, “In all my sorrows, Jesus is better – make my heart believe.” It continues with the same structure and says, “In all my victories… Than any comfort… More than all riches… Our souls declaring… Our song eternal.”
The bridge resonates because that should be the cry of our hearts as followers of Christ. We should know that Jesus is better than even our victories. It is not a cry that we voice to remind ourselves that Christ will get us through tough times. It is a cry that it is true when the highways of our lives are like the newly paved Kansas turnpike roads and when they are like the barely passable county roads in Oklahoma.
“Jesus is Better” may be the cry of our mind but too often it’s not the cry of our heart. Which is why the phrase “make my heart believe,” is so crucial. It humbly admits that “though I know this to be true my heart still needs convincing.” Thus it becomes a prayer to the Almighty God of the universe to change our hearts. Our prayer becomes “Make us believe, live, act, spend money, love people, etc. in a way that shows Jesus is better than money, things, our lack of love, and our selfishness.”
Our heart has to believe that Jesus is better if we are to live as though “we have no other king;” if we are to declare with our loudest anthem that, “Jesus [is] Lord of all.” In this way the chorus of the song echoes what Paul says in Philippians 4:11-13. It is Paul’s proclamation that Christ is better than having plenty and being hungry. He is content, no matter the circumstances, because it is in Christ that he is able to continue, to overcome, to persevere, and to gain strength.
Lastly it lines up with what Jesus taught in John 6. He tells the people in verses 35-36 that he is “the bread of life.” Real, lasting, deep satisfaction does not come from food or water but from Christ. It is the extrapolation of verses 53-58 that leads us to conclude that Jesus is better. If he is “true food” and “true drink,” two of the things that sustain our physical life, then he is better than life itself. If that is true then anything else in life – pain, victory, comfort, riches – cannot hold a candle to that which brings true life and satisfaction.
Lastly, “Jesus is better,” should be our heart’s cry because it is what we will declare, with the elders, the four living creatures, and all the saints in God’s presence for all eternity. It will be our song eternally as we proclaim ‘to him who sits on the throne and to the Lamb be blessing and honor and glory and might forever and ever!" (Revelation 5:13)
Join me in praying, “Jesus is better, make my heart believe.”