Is Jesus precious to you?

My pastor recently asked in a sermon, "Is Jesus precious to you?" I had to really think about that. I gave my life to Christ a long time ago, and although I have known him as my Savior and Lord, and that he has guided my life and decisions on endless occasions, I had to ask myself if he was indeed precious to me. The answer, I discovered, is -- not precious enough.

I think of many things as precious. My new little nephew, time with friends, memories of my grandmothers, my mother and father, my sweet sister. But the Bible says clearly that I must "disown" all of these things if I am to truly follow Christ. How does one do that, exactly? I know in my head that Jesus should be the ONE thing, and all others should fall away. And then there are the dreams and hopes of many more unfulfilled desires that I also hold precious. How do I let go of those?

I think it was Corrie Ten Boom said that one should never hold something so tightly that it hurts when God has to pry your fingers open to take it from you. I want to get to that place...that all else becomes secondary to my precious Jesus. I just pray that Jesus can show me how to do it, because it is not in me to make it happen. I can feel myself tearing up as I write this. My fingers hurt.