Have you ever noticed how much stuff we accumulate in our life time. it doesn’t take us very long to collect a lot of stuff. A few Saturdays ago I was driving down Highway 63 past Warren and Karen’s place and noticed that they were cleaning out their garage. They had stuff strung out every where. The next day they showed up at church in a new SUV. I guess they found it behind that old refrigerator they threw out.
I don’t have to stray that far away from home find clutter. This past Wednesday as we preparing for Ivan my wife hauled a U-haul truck load of our stuff out of our mobile home to take to storage. Our lives are cluttered with things.
Not only are our lives cluttered with things they are also cluttered with activities. We are consumed with work, chores, TV, the internet, hobbies, sided jobs, honey do’s, extra curricular activities, and just life in general. We are cluttered with responsibilities too. We are responsible to the mortgage payment, car payment, and the credit card company. We are Marthas in a world that needs more Marys. We are so distracted by the many things, activities and responsibilities that we have committed ourselves to. We are so cluttered with stuff and activities that we have lost sight of the "one needful thing."
God is trying to tell us the same thing He told Martha. In essence He is saying to us, "You’ve got to get out of the land of many things and come dwell in the land of one thing."
In our home we have a set of children’s books that are designed to teach kids their ABC’s and 123’s. The very 1st book in the number set is entitled My One Book. The book is about little one who lived in the house of one. The house of one has one door, one table, one chair, one window ... you get the picture. It’s a book about one thing. God has left us a book - The Bible. This is our One Book. It has one door, one table, one family, one passion, and one purpose. He is calling the Marthas of the world to leave the land of many things and join the Marys in the land of One Thing. He wants us to trade in our principle of many things for His principle of One Thing.
What is this One Thing. Paul described it this way; “13 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 (Philippians 3.13-14).” Mark said it like this, “Then Jesus, looking at him, loved him, and said to him, ‘one thing you lack: God your way, sell whatever you have and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven; and come, take up the cross, and follow Me (Mark 10.21).” The Psalmist said it this way, “One thing I have desired of the LORD,
That will I 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 inquire in His temple (Psalm 27.4).”
I have said many times that if you boil life down to its bare essentials you will learn that life is about one thing - relationships. So, what is the one thing God wants to be the driving principle of your life - a personal, passionate, and purposeful relationship with Jesus Christ. Paul said it this way in 1 Corinthians 2.2; “I determined to know nothing among you except Jesus Christ and Him crucified.”
We do here in this place; What you do as a Christian is not defined by this place, this preacher, the music minister, the Sunday School teacher, or the deacon. Who and what you are as a Christian is about your personal relationship with the Savior Jesus Christ. It’s about you getting to know Him. If I can lead you to understand the importance of this one thing all other things will fall into place.
So, the question for us today is, “How do we focus on this one thing?” How can we develop this passionate relationship with Jesus Christ? The best place I can thing to find this answer is in th One Book as we look at the many who have gone before us. Those like Abraham, Moses, Daniel and the apostles. I think we can look at their lives and pull out some practical principals that will help us focus on the One Thing God wants us to focus on .
1st We like they must answer God’s call.
- We must answer His call to Salvation - Illustration: Paul on the road to Damascus.
- We must answer His call to Service - Illustration: Moses at the Burning Bush.
- We must answer His call to Sacrifice - Illustration: Abraham at the Mt. Of Sacrifice.
2nd We like they must walk with Him Consistently.
- We must walk distinctly - Illustration: Daniel and the boys at the King’s table.
- We must walk definitely - Illustration: Shadrach, Meshsech, Abednigo - “We do not need to answer you concerning this matter.”
- We must walk differently - Illustration: Daniel and the lions den - they had to pass a law against his righteous practices.
- We must walk dogmatically - Illustration: Paul - “there is no other name under heaven where by men must be saved.”
3rd We like they must keep His Commandments.
- The Ten
- Jesus’ summary - Love God and love others.
4th We like they must step out of the comfort of the boat.
- Illustration Peter walking on the water.
- We must walk away from the crowd. Illustration - Peter, Abraham, Joshua & Caleb.
- We must walk outside our comfort zone. Illustration - Moses was comfortable in the desert.
- We must walk in God’s capabilities.
Conclusion: What clutter do you need to cut so that you can focus on the “one needful thing”?
