“One Thing”…

Articles

Philip C. Strong
01/17/23 - Discipleship

Behold the power- either positively or negatively, of “One Thing”…

Lacked, Mark 10:21, “And looking at him, Jesus felt a love for him, and said to him, ‘One thing you lack…” This rich, young, ruler deserves more credit than he is often given. “Yes,” he “went away grieved” when told what that “one thing” which he lack in his spiritual service to God was, but how many of us, who often look down our self-righteous noses at him, ONLY lack “one thing” in our own spiritual lives? And “yes,” apparently he was unwilling to do the “one thing” that would have enabled him to be “complete” (or “perfect,” cf. Matt.19:21), but whether “one thing” or many, are WE willing to “do all the things which are commanded,” Luke 17:10?

Necessary, Luke 10:42, “but only a few things are necessary, really only one…” Martha was “worried and bothered about so many things” (v.41), and so are we! Think about your prayers, for instance- are they composed of mostly physical or spiritual concerns, requests, and pleas? Consider the prayer in which Jesus taught His disciples how to pray, Matt.6:9-13. How many of the items for which they were to pray were physical in nature? Now, how many of them were spiritual in nature? Martha was overwhelmed (and apparently frustrated and perhaps angry with her sister, Mary) precisely because she was concentrating on “so many” physical things, while Mary was focusing on spiritual things- “listening to the Lord’s word,” v.39. THIS is the “one thing” that has the ability to bring everything else into proper perspective and priority.

Known, John 9:25, “He (the man born blind) therefore answered, ‘Whether He (Jesus) is a sinner, I do not know; one thing I do know, that, whereas I was blind, now I see.” This man didn’t literally know “one thing”- but what he is emphasizing is the importance of “one thing,” in fact “the” thing, that he knew which was most important of all, Jesus’ healing power! Such power to heal one “blind from birth” (cf. 9:1ff) surely meant divine power! If the “one thing” we know is the divine power of Jesus to heal physically and spiritually, then we’re on the right track to “become children of God,” John 1:12. I once heard of a fella of whom it was said, “He didn’t know much, and suspected even less!” If you know “one thing,” I hope it is the healing/saving power of Jesus Christ.

Done, Phil.3:13, “Brethren, I do not regard myself as having laid hold of it (eternal life, cf. v.14) yet; but one thing I do…” The “one thing” Paul was doing actually encompassed two parts: “forgetting what lies behind” and “reaching forward to what lies ahead.” Both parts of this “one thing” are essential. The past must be put behind us, and thus not dwelt upon for none can change it, and it is not the key to our future. But we must also “press on” to “what lies ahead.” Between these two- the past and the future, is the present. While Paul was certainly active in the present, he didn’t allow his present “distress(es)” (cf. 1Cor.7:26 and 2Cor.12:7b-10) to detour or derail his ultimate objective of heaven! How often we hear, speak, and sing of the joys of heaven but allow the “worry of the world, and the deceitfulness of riches” (Matt.13:22) to distract and consume us. Though we probably understand that “the main thing” in life is the attainment of heaven afterwards, we don’t always remember such in how we live in and cling to the “present.” Which brings to “one (final) thing”…

Desired/Asked, Ps.27:4, “One thing I have asked from the Lord, that I shall seek; that I may dwell in the house of the Lord all the days of my life, to behold the beauty of the Lord, and to meditate in His temple.” If your desires were distilled down to just one, is this it?

Through the prophet Zechariah, God asked, “For who has despised the day of small things?” I am neither a prophet nor the son of a prophet, but I ask, “Who has despised the power of ‘one thing’?” Think about it, won’t you?