How can such a simple phrase be so hard to understand?
My heart is settled in this matter. Jesus is better than everything else. But one look at my life – my thoughts and actions – betrays what I believe about the truth of the sign.
And perhaps that’s the most profound aspect of the truth. Jesus is better than my failure. He’s better than my best days and better by far than any other savior who promises peace on my worst days. He’s the savior I have when I don’t know I need him. He’s the living God offering a throne of grace when I run into the wall of despair that the road of my choosing leads. He’s better than the alternatives.
Jesus is better. He’s better than we tend to think he is. He’s the only savior who saves with an unending salvation for no cost whatsoever. He’s the one who opens to us the passageway to the life we long for, but can’t ever seem to find on our own. He’s the savior who made himself like us so that whatever temptation we face we have a friend who knows what it feels like. He’s the savior who never sinned because we need someone to atone for our sins. He’s the savior who is there when we need help. He’s the anchor of our soul firmly fixed in the inner place of heaven.
No matter what you compare him to, Jesus is better.
Nowhere in the Bible are we told not to compare him to anything. In fact, we are told time and again to compare him to everything, and in all comparisons, he reigns supreme. (Ps. 40:5, Ps. 89:6, Is. 40:18,25, Is. 46:5, Matt. 13:24, Matt. 18:23, Matt. 22:2, Mark 4:30, Lk. 13:18, Lk. 13:20, the entire book of Hebrews, etc.)
So today, why not compare Jesus to whatever other hope you have? Why not put his record up against yours, or your job’s, or whatever other idol you have crafted?