Jesus is sweeter than life. There is nothing and no one that is His equal. He is freedom, peace, truth, and the longing of our souls, and I’m learning that nothing really seems to matter compared to knowing Him. As Paul said, “But whatever gain I had, I counted as loss for the sake of Christ. Indeed, I count everything as loss because of the surpassing worth of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord” (Phil. 3:7-8a).

When we place our faith in Jesus, all our sin is washed away, our debt having been nailed to His cross and paid in full. The Lord in His grace and love promises that we are a new creation, reconciled at last to Him. He takes away our heart of stone and replaces it with a heart of flesh, one that is free to beat in sync with His, one that is transformed “to will and to work for His good pleasure” (Phil. 2:13). A miracle has taken place.

Even so, there is still much to be done. Our Father sees that our hearts, though free, need to be strengthened – tested, refined, and proven. The road is narrow and difficult, but the journey and its end are worth more than gold; only on this path can we learn to truly know His heart, to listen and follow, to keep in step with Him, to glorify His strength in our weakness now sustained. A heart that beats in tune with His own must be a beautiful thing to God, useful to Him who rejoices over us with loud singing. Will my life be in return a song to Him, a melody of worship worthy of the One who knew before the creation of the world that He would someday call me, know me, and hear all that is in my heart? As the hymn says,

“Come, Thou fount of every blessing,
Tune my heart to sing Thy grace;
Streams of mercy, never ceasing,
Call for songs of loudest praise.”

And, in another song,

“My soul, bear thou thy part,
Triumph in God above,
And with a well tuned heart
Sing thou the songs of love.
And all my days let no distress
Nor fears suppress His joyful praise.”

My desire is that every day would find my heart more in tune with His, and that by His strength I would boldly sing of His grace with joy, thankfulness, and courage.