In an earlier writing we looked at three occurrences of “One Thing.”
One thing Have I desired…
“One thing have I desired of the LORD, that will I seek after; 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 inquire in his temple.” (Psalm 27:4)
One Thing thou lackest…
“And when he was gone forth into the way, there came one running, and kneeled to him, and asked him, Good Master, what shall I do that I may inherit eternal life? And Jesus said unto him, Why callest thou me good? there is none good but one, that is, God. Thou knowest the commandments, Do not commit adultery, Do not kill, Do not steal, Do not bear false witness, Defraud not, Honour thy father and mother. And he answered and said unto him, Master, all these have I observed from my youth. Then Jesus beholding him loved him, and said unto him, one thing thou lackest: go thy way, sell whatsoever thou hast, and give to the poor, and thou shalt have treasure in heaven: and come, take up the cross, and follow me. And he was sad at that saying, and went away grieved: for he had great possessions.” (Mark 10:17-22)
One Thing I know…
“Then again called they [the Pharisees] the man that was blind, and said unto him, Give God the praise: we know that this man [referring to Jesus] is a sinner. He answered and said, Whether he be a sinner or no, I know not: one thing I know, that, whereas I was blind, now I see. (John 9:24-25)
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In this writing, we will look at a few more occurrences of “one thing…”
One Thing is needful…
“Now it came to pass, as they went, that he entered into a certain village: and a certain woman named Martha received him into her house. And she had a sister called Mary, which also sat at Jesus’ feet, and heard his word. But Martha was cumbered about much serving, and came to him, and said, Lord, dost thou not care that my sister hath left me to serve alone? bid her therefore that she help me. And Jesus answered and said unto her, Martha, Martha, thou art careful and troubled about many things: But one thing is needful: and Mary hath chosen that good part, which shall not be taken away from her.” (Luke 10:38-42)
“Mary sat at Jesus’s feet and heard His word, while Martha was distracted by her preparations for the Royal Guest. Martha wanted the Lord to rebuke her sister for failing to help, but Jesus tenderly rebuked Martha for her fretfulness! Our Lord prizes our affection above our service.” (William MacDonald, 1995, p. 1411)
Quite often in life we get so preoccupied with doing service for Christ that we forget it is needful to spend time alone with the Lord and His Word – “to sit at Jesus’ feet.”
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One Thing I do…
“That I may know him, and the power of his resurrection, and the fellowship of his sufferings, being made conformable unto his death; If by any means I might attain unto the resurrection of the dead.
Not as though I had already attained, either were already perfect: but I follow after, if that I may apprehend that for which also I am apprehended of Christ Jesus. Brethren, I count not myself to have apprehended: but this one thing I do, forgetting those things which are behind, and reaching forth unto those things which are before, I press toward the mark for the prize of the high calling of God in Christ Jesus.
Let us therefore, as many as be perfect, be thus minded: and if in any thing ye be otherwise minded, God shall reveal even this unto you. Nevertheless, whereto we have already attained, let us walk by the same rule, let us mind the same thing.” (Philippians 3:10-16)
Paul desired to experience what Christ did, in a measure – that is, to suffer for Him, to die for Him and to be raised from the dead as He was.
Paul strive to forget “those things that are behind.” The past is the past; there is nothing we can do to change it. We should not dwell on our past mistakes and failures and sins. They cannot be undone.
Paul looked ahead to living for Christ every day. I can picture him seeking the Lord daily, asking, “What wilt thou have me to do?” as he did on the road to Damascus. He pressed on, being eager to fulfill God’s will for his life and so should we…
“The prize would be the crown of righteousness which Paul elsewhere describes as the prize for those who have run well (2 Timothy 4:8).” (MacDonald, 1995, p. 1975)
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One Thing to not be ignorant of…
“But, beloved, be not ignorant of this one thing, that one day is with the Lord as a thousand years, and a thousand years as one day. The Lord is not slack concerning his promise, as some men count slackness; but is longsuffering to us-ward, not willing that any should perish, but that all should come to repentance.” (2 Peter 3:8-9)
“…God is timeless. He does not live in a sphere of time as we do. After all, time is determined by the relation of the sun to the earth, and God is not limited by this relationship. God has promised to end the history of ungodly men with judgement. If there seems to be a delay, it is not because God is unfaithful to His promise. It is because He is patient. He does not want any to perish. His desire is that all should come to repentance. He purposely extends the time of grace so that men might have every opportunity to be saved.” (MacDonald, 1995, p. 2302).