Only Jesus

Casting Crowns' “Only Jesus” rejects the usual advice about making a mark. The opening lines are the voice of the culture: “Make it count, leave a mark, build a name for yourself, dream your dreams, chase your heart above all else.” The singer says he “got lost in the lie that it was up to me to make a name the world remembers,” and notes that all an empty world can sell is “empty dreams.”

The chorus gives a different goal: “I don't want to leave a legacy, I don't care if they remember me, only Jesus.” He has “only got one life to live” and wants every second to point to Christ. The second verse looks ahead to the end, where “all the kingdoms built, all the trophies won will crumble into dust,” and asks whether he lived the truth to the ones he loved, and whether his life was proof that there is only one whose name will last. The refrain, “Jesus is the only name to remember,” closes the song.

A name that outlasts the rest is Philippians 2:9. Treasures that fade follow Matthew 6:19-20, and the contrast between a worldly reputation and a good name recalls Proverbs 22:1.