Just One Thing

Now as they went on their way, Jesus entered a village. And a woman named Martha welcomed him into her house. And she had a sister called Mary, who sat at the Lord's feet and listened to his teaching. But Martha was distracted with much serving. And she went up to him and said, “Lord, do you not care that my sister has left me to serve alone? Tell her then to help me.” But the Lord answered her, “Martha, Martha, you are anxious and troubled about many things, but one thing is necessary. Mary has chosen the good portion, which will not be taken away from her."

Luke 10:38-42

Just one thing is necessary.

In all of creation from beginning to end, to the heights of our atmosphere to the depths of the seas. To all that is scattered by the four winds. The darkest night, the brightest day.

Just one thing is necessary.

In all of your life from beginning to end, from the day your first child is born to the most mundane. To all the nooks and crannies of this earth that life may take you. Your darkest night or your brightest day.

Just one thing is necessary.

In your greatest accomplishments and your most daring feats to your moments of utter failure and your shame of shrinking cowardice.

Just one thing is necessary.

In all that you love, your spouse, your child, your job, your cup of coffee. 

Just one thing is necessary.

From autumn and its changing leaves to winter with tree branches delicately encapsulated in ice. Spring, with blossoms that remind us hey, there is life after all. To summer and a rainstorm that smells like earth and moss and childhood.

Just one thing is necessary.

Friend, whatever you love, whatever loves you, wherever you go or don't go, whatever you do or don't do. It's all well and good. We are hearers and we are doers of His Word.

But just one thing is necessary. Indeed, only one thing is needful.

You may find yourself praying, Lord! I need something! Anything! I need peace, I need hope, I need love! 

I need a husband! I need more time! I need a new job! I need rest!

Only one thing is necessary, beloved.

Him.

The Alpha, The Omega. Beginning and End. Bright Morning Star. Master. Savior. Love. Refuge. Fortress. Lover of your soul. Prince of Peace. 

One thing I ask from the LORD, this only do I seek: 

that I may dwell in the house of the LORD all the days of my life, 

to gaze on the beauty of the LORD and to seek him in his temple. 

Psalm 27:4

Is He the only thing that is necessary to you? If not, ask Him to be. Shake off all that holds you from giving yourself fully to Christ.

"As God is exalted to the right place in our lives, a thousand problems are solved all at once." A.W. Tozer.

Instead of worry, sit at His feet. Put your focus on Him and all else will be supplied to you. 

I want love and joy and peace and prosperity. I want rights and ambitions and good things.

But I only need one thing. Jesus.

Just one thing. The Holiest, Best, and the Most Perfect Gift that heaven has to offer.

Only He is necessary.

Bright Hope for Tomorrow

This morning after church I stood outside with one of my best friends (Big shout out to Vicki!) as we watched our children play. Well, really we watched my two year old son make questionable play-time choices like eat discarded ice off of the sidewalk and throw rocks into the parking lot. Close by, watching his every move, was Vicki's two year old daughter, telling him with her facial expression, "Morgan, you are making terrible decisions with your life."

Vicki and I talked, as friends do, about kids, finances, and work. We agreed that the older we get the more we see how nothing in life is assured. In the past six months I have witnessed in the lives of my friends and family health scares, chronic illness diagnoses, the loss of babies, the loss of spouses. 2015 brought with it the realization that nothing in life is certain. Nothing is guaranteed.

And this, my friends, is a complete bummer.

Unless, you see things through an eternal lens.

Isaiah 65:17-19 tells us that when Jesus returns and comes to reign on earth all will be well. Better than well. All will be made perfect:

“Look! I am creating new heavens and a new earth, and no one will even think about the old ones anymore. Be glad; rejoice forever in my creation! And look! I will create Jerusalem as a place of happiness. Her people will be a source of joy. I will rejoice over Jerusalem and delight in my people. And the sound of weeping and crying will be heard in it no more."

Wyatt's Bible, The Children's Storybook Bible, sums this verse up in one beautiful sentence:

"All things sad will become untrue."

Can you imagine it? Every physical or emotional hurt, disease, or ache of lost loved ones will be forgotten and in their place restoration will be given. Restoration of good health. Restoration of those lost. Pain gone. Children returned to empty arms.

Maybe this seems far-fetched. And maybe some would chalk it up to the stuff of fairy tales. But A.W. Tozer in his book, Pursing God, tells us this:

"God and the spiritual world are real. We can reckon upon them with as much assurance as we reckon upon the familiar world around us."

I want to believe in things I haven't seen. I want to hold fast to sweet promises made by a good God. And I want to share with others what this world so desperately needs: hope.

Strength for today. Bright hope for tomorrow. Blessings all mine with 10,000 beside. Great is His faithfulness, dear one!

In this world we will have trouble. Jesus Himself said so. But our hope and our faith are well placed in Him because, "Take heart!" He has overcome this world (John 16:33).

And all those sad things? He will literally make them disappear. Because in the new world in which I will live there will be no illness, no dying. Not even a bad day.

This seen world we live in now is made of flimsy paper at best. But that unseen world that is coming is made of rock, made to last forever.

My paper life here will be torn, it will be ripped, scribbled upon, and crumpled up.

My rock life there is solid, assured, and certain. It cannot be damaged, eroded, or weathered. All will be restored.

All sad things untrue.

Lord, may it be so.