I’ll confess it - I like to win. I never did debate in high school, but I’m confident it was stage fright that kept me from it more than anything, because I know the drive to “be right” is deep in my bones, sometimes for better and sometimes for worse. Maybe it’s the firstborn in me, maybe it’s pride, maybe it’s grit - or a mix of it all - but if I’m being honest with you, there’s just really nothing more satisfying than being right!  

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I know God is working out the ick in that and refining the good, and it seems he did the same in the writer of the letter to the Hebrews. Hebrews is a beautifully crafted argument and compelling case for Jesus being the end all, be all. I hope the writer looked on it with satisfaction after completion, because, for the person who likes to win, what’s better than arguing for something you know is right and good and true?  

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Hebrews starts with a bang - SIX examples from the Old Testament that demonstrate God’s affirmation that Jesus is the GOAT. For the first century Jews (the Hebrew audience this letter is named for), getting Jesus mixed up in importance with lesser things was just as real of a problem as it is for us today. For them it was angels, the law, the priests…all these things that were important parts of their religious ways of life, that they’d learned for years to revere. Can you imagine the flip of the script when Jesus came on the scene and completely changed the game? I think it would’ve been so challenging to grasp and shift these things in your life, the things that had felt so primary before, into a place that was secondary to him – which was the way God had wanted it all along.  

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Here’s my question for you today, though: are we so far removed from that same challenge?  

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Sure, a deep reverence for angels that competes in our hearts with Jesus isn’t so common today, but what things DO compete with Jesus for the throne of your heart? Good things or harmful things - it doesn’t really matter at the end of the day - if the throne of your heart is occupied by anyone or anything other than the person of Jesus, you’re gonna have a bad time in one way or another. Either that harmful thing, habit, or person (maybe a substance dependence, a bad relationship, or sexual sin that you just haven’t been able to walk away from) will rot the roots of faith in your life, OR that good thing that’s occupying the throne it was never meant to (maybe pride, your work, your family/kids/spouse) will slowly eclipse the authority of Jesus in your life, leaving you with an impotent and therefore worthless faith. No matter how it happens, the outcome is the same - unless Jesus sits on the throne of your life, your faith will decay and eventually die.  

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Cheery, I know. But true.  

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So maybe it’s not angels for us, but what is challenging Jesus for authority and primacy in your life, heart, and mind in this season? Take a moment and really consider, what is it for you right now?  

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Whatever it is, friend – give it the boot! I know that’s easier said than done, but the good news is that Hebrews 1 is just the beginning. It’s one thing to say that Jesus is first in your life, it’s another to believe it in your bones, and you’ve got all summer - all 13 chapters of Hebrews - to let this truth settle down deep into your heart.  

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Today, though, my invitation is simple: agree. Agree that Jesus is IT - that nothing else can hold a candle to his authority, goodness, or power. From there, let’s go on the journey this summer of letting that truth grow bigger and bigger in our lives until whatever has been competing for his spot just pales in comparison.

Take a moment today to pray about this with God. Confess the thing that has been warring for that throne of your heart and invite Jesus to truly be the only One who occupies it. Repent of whatever sin is connected with that – ask him to help you deal with the harmful things that are vying for authority in your life, or for his help in putting the good things that are doing the same back into their rightful place. He alone is worthy of the throne of your heart. Trust me - on this one thing, I know I’m right.