Why should I seek Jesus?

It was a simple question, but it carried a lot of weight. Maybe you've asked the same question. You may have heard people talk about Jesus your entire life. Maybe someone has told you that you need to believe in Him, go to church, read the Bible, or give your life to God. But if you're not a believer, those words can leave you wondering why. Why should I seek someone I don't even know? Why should I believe something I've never been convinced is true? And why should Jesus have anything to do with my life?

Those are honest questions. And if that's where you are, you don't need to pretend otherwise. You don't need to force yourself to believe something just because someone else believes it. You can ask questions. You can be skeptical. You can have doubts. In fact, maybe the best place to begin is not with religion at all. Maybe it's with Jesus.

Think about how much of our lives are spent searching. We search for happiness, success, love, security, acceptance, and purpose. We spend years trying to build a life that will make us feel fulfilled. We work for better jobs, pursue relationships, buy things we think will make us happy, and chase experiences that we hope will give our lives meaning. And yet, sometimes, even after getting what we thought we wanted, there is still a question inside of us: Is there something more?

You can have a successful career and still feel empty. You can be surrounded by people and still feel alone. You can accomplish your goals and still wonder what your life is ultimately about. That is where the question of Jesus becomes interesting.

Jesus didn't simply come offering another philosophy about how to live a good life. He made a claim about Himself that demands attention. He said, “I am the way, the truth, and the life” (John 14:6).

Those are extraordinary words. Jesus wasn't saying, “I know the way.” He said, “I am the way.” He wasn't simply saying that He could teach people about truth. He said, “I am the truth.” And He didn't merely claim to know how to live. He said, “I am the life.”

If Jesus was simply a man who lived two thousand years ago, then these are interesting words from an ancient teacher. But what if He really was who He claimed to be? That's the question worth investigating. You don't have to answer it immediately. You can start by looking at His life.

Read the Gospel of John. Read what Jesus actually said. Watch how He treated people. Look at the people He welcomed and the people He challenged. Look at how He responded to those who were rejected by society. Look at His compassion toward the broken and His confrontation of hypocrisy. Don't begin by asking what Christians want you to believe. Ask yourself, “Who is Jesus?” That question is where the search begins.

Maybe you're thinking, “But I don't believe in God.” That's okay. Then be honest about it. You can tell God that. You can say, “God, I don't know if You're real.” You can say, “Jesus, I don't know if I believe in You.” You can say, “I've got questions.” You can even say, “I'm angry.”

You don't have to clean up your thoughts before you begin seeking. Seeking doesn't mean that you've already found what you're looking for. It means you're willing to look.

If you were told that something could completely change your understanding of life, you wouldn't necessarily believe the claim immediately. You would investigate it. You would ask questions. You would look at the evidence. You would listen to the people who made the claim and decide for yourself. Why not do the same with Jesus?

Perhaps you'll discover that you disagree. But perhaps you'll discover something you weren't expecting.

Jesus repeatedly invited people to follow Him. His invitation was remarkably simple: “Follow Me.” He didn't tell people they needed to understand everything before they could begin. He didn't require them to have every question answered. He simply invited them to follow.

And that's an important distinction. Jesus isn't asking you to become an expert in Christianity before you can approach Him. He's asking you to come closer. Read His words. Listen to Him. Consider His claims. Bring Him your questions. And see where the journey leads.

But there is something else you may discover along the way. If you genuinely begin seeking Jesus, He won't simply challenge what you believe about God. He may begin challenging what you believe about yourself.

Jesus has a way of getting to the heart. He talks about things we would rather avoid—pride, selfishness, hatred, unforgiveness, greed, lust, hypocrisy, and the things we hide from other people. But He doesn't expose those things simply to condemn us. He exposes them because He wants to change us.

The Bible describes this transformation as receiving a new heart. God says, “I will give you a new heart and put a new spirit within you” (Ezekiel 36:26).

That's different from simply trying harder to become a better person. Most of us know how to change our behavior for a little while. But changing the heart is something deeper. And perhaps that's one of the reasons Jesus is worth seeking. He doesn't simply tell us to become better people. He teaches us how to become people who love differently.

When Jesus was asked what the greatest commandment was, He didn't point people toward religious achievement. He said, “You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your mind” (Matthew 22:37). And then He connected that love for God with loving other people.

Imagine what would happen if we actually lived that way. What if forgiveness mattered more than revenge? What if loving people mattered more than winning arguments? What if we cared about people who couldn't give us anything in return? What if we stopped living only for ourselves?

This is the kind of life Jesus calls people toward.

And perhaps you've seen Christians who don't look anything like that. Maybe you've seen hypocrisy. Maybe you've seen Christians arguing with one another. Maybe you've been hurt by a church. Maybe someone who claimed to follow Jesus treated you terribly.

If that has happened to you, your hurt is real. But don't let the failures of people prevent you from discovering the person they were supposed to be following.

Look at Jesus. Look at the way He treated people. Look at the way He forgave. Look at the way He served. Look at the way He loved. And ultimately, look at the cross.

Because Christianity isn't primarily about becoming a religious person. It's about Jesus.

That's why the invitation is so simple.

Seek Him.

You don't have to know everything. You don't have to have perfect faith. You don't even have to be certain that you believe. You can start with a question. You can start with curiosity. You can start with an honest prayer: “Jesus, if You are really there, I want to know You.”

That's a beginning.

And Scripture gives a remarkable promise to those who genuinely seek God: “And you will seek Me and find Me, when you search for Me with all your heart” (Jeremiah 29:13).

Maybe you've spent your entire life searching for something without knowing exactly what it is. Maybe you've been searching for purpose. Maybe you've been searching for peace. Maybe you've been searching for love. Maybe you've been searching for truth. And maybe you've never considered that what you're really searching for is a person.

Jesus said, “I have come that they may have life, and that they may have it more abundantly” (John 10:10).

So why should you seek Jesus?

Because if He isn't who He claimed to be, then seeking Him may simply teach you something about an important figure in history. But if He is who He claimed to be, then seeking Him could change everything.

Not just what you believe.

Who you become.

Your understanding of God. Your understanding of yourself. Your understanding of love. Your understanding of forgiveness. Your understanding of purpose. Your understanding of life itself.

You don't have to have all the answers today. Just start with Jesus. Open the Gospel. Read His story. Ask your questions. Talk to Him. And be willing to follow wherever the truth leads.

Because perhaps the most important question isn't simply, “Why should I seek Jesus?”

Perhaps the deeper question is:

“What if Jesus is exactly who He said He is?”

Maybe it's time to find out.