One Thing

One of the movies that I find easy to fall into watching repeatedly is "City Slickers", with Billy Crystal and Jack Palance among others.  If you are also a fan of the movie you will recall well the scene in which the grizzled trail boss "Curly", portrayed dead on by Palance, confronts the middle-aged yuppie, Mitch, played by Crystal, about his struggle with mid-life existential angst.  Palance snarls his disdain for self-indulgent tourists like Mitch who annually come to participate in an authentic cattle drive in an attempt to "find themselves".  Curly volunteers a bit of wisdom to Mitch about the "secret of life".  Holding up one crooked, weatherbeaten finger, he says the secret is: "One Thing".  Amazed that Curly could reduce his complex pursuit of happiness and fulfillment to just "one thing", Mitch incredulously asks, "And what is that one thing?"  Curly's answer:  "That's what you have to figure out."

Now, I don't rely too heavily on movies as a source of spiritual wisdom but sometimes, yes sometimes, a pearl such as this one reflects truth found in scripture.  In various places in God's word we find reference to this exact phrase - "ONE THING"- expressing some key to the fulfillment and eternal wellbeing of persons.  Consider these:

- Luke's gospel (10:38-42) records the story of two women who sought to please the Lord as he visited with them in their home.  Martha scurried about busily preparing a meal for him while her sister, Mary, sat quietly at Jesus' feet hearing him speak of the kingdom of God.  Becoming irritated that she was so put upon, Martha complained to Jesus that it might be nice if her lazy sister would get up and help her in the kitchen.  "Martha," Jesus responded, "Mary has chosen the best thing - the ONE THING truly needed - spending time with me.  I won't deny her that."  Sometimes we burn ourselves out trying to do many things to serve the Lord when the ONE THING most needed is simply time at His feet, time in His presence, time adoring Him, learning from and of Him.

- Mark's narrative (10: 17-23) includes an account of the interaction between Jesus and a wealthy man who wants to know for sure what is required to have eternal life.  He affirms to Jesus that he has done all he knows he should do, being fastidiously obedient to the commands of God as he understands them.  Jesus commends him for this but says to him, "ONE THING is all you lack, go, sell your possessions and sacrifice your self interest to follow me."  Considering this demand, the man departs chagrined . . . he is unwilling to do that one thing that separates him from discipleship.  His goods are too many, his wealth too great to forsake.  This may be the ONE THING for you or for me, being willing to give up some thing that claims our devotion to such a degree as to render us unable to serve the Lord without reservation.

-  Finally, Paul speaks of ONE THING he does to help him pursue his ultimate interest of knowing Christ fully and serving him completely.  In his letter to the church at Philippi, in the third chapter, Paul says that he is passionately devoted to knowing Christ even if he must suffer to gain such intimate, unmitigated communion with Christ.  Assessing where he stands relative to this pursuit, Paul humbly admits, "I know I haven't yet attained the state I desire" and goes on to add in verse 13: "this ONE THING I do . . . I forget my past and focus on forging ahead toward God's calling for my life!"   The one thing required for some of us to find peace with God and ourselves may be putting some aspect of our pasts behind us to be free to find God's good will for us today and in our futures.

The bottom line is this: Curly's advice was consistent with scripture in each of these cases.  Those whose experiences are detailed in the passages noted, all found that the answer to their deepest needs was encapsulated in discovering and pursuing ONE THING.  For each, the thing to be found and followed was somewhat different but each was centered on singleminded, wholehearted, devotion to the will of God, not deterred or diluted by busy-ness, material things, or paralyzing memories of a scarred past. 

May God help each of us to have a clear vision of, and a willingness to forsake or pursue, any ONE THING that may be needed for us to know and do God's perfect will for our lives.  Pray for the ol' Doc in that regard and I will pray for you.

Peace my friends,
Dr. Mike