My One Thing

What is your one thing? You know, the idea, the person, the possession you put most value on? What do you want to be known for? What is your one thing?

D. L. Moody said, "It is better to say, 'This one thing I do,' than to say, 'These forty things I dabble with.'"

I think I'm pretty good at dabbling. But that's not something I want to be good at! I want to have one thing...and I want it to be the right one thing, the eternal one thing.

In Philippians 3:13-14 Paul says, "Brothers, I do not consider that I have made it my own. But one thing I do: forgetting what lies behind and straining forward to what lies ahead, I press on toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus." Paul's one thing was singleminded devotion to Jesus.

I want that. I want my relationship with Jesus to be my one thing. But then I think, well what about everything else? What about my relationships with my family? My work? Agape Orphanage? Those are all pretty good things to put value into too, right? I realize that it is when my perspective is not eternal that I struggle most with Jesus being my one thing. Ultimately, pursuing him is the only thing of worth. Nothing else truly satisfies. Making him my one thing does not mean there is no worth in other good things. In fact, I think I am able to love best, work best, serve best, when He is my one thing. C.S. Lewis wrote, "When first things are put first, second things are not suppressed but increased." What a hard, but good thing to remember!

Cynthia Heald talks about the importance of abiding in relation to making Jesus your one thing. She wrote, "My personal picture to illustrate abiding is 'keeping my hand in His.' Just as the branch must stay attached to the vine, I feel that if I keep my hand in His, then I'm connected to Christ. He is leading, I am following; He talks, I listen; I talk, He listens. When He stops, I stop. When He is silent, I am silent. Whatever path I am on, I know it is His path for me. Abiding is a lifestyle- a continual communion with the Lord as I keep my hand in His."

I like that illustration. Abiding in Christ is a choice- one we have to commit to daily. At times that seems overwhelming, but if I want Christ to be my one thing, it's a choice I want to make. It's a habit I want to form. A relationship I want to make a priority. It is far better to make Christ my one thing- how will I be able to fully love and serve those he placed in my life otherwise?

And when the choice of abiding seems too hard, I think of a quote by Andrew Murray, "Let Christ be first. Let Christ be all. Do not be occupied with the abiding- be occupied with Christ."