What is your “one thing”?

When I talk to people, many individuals confess to following Jesus, loving Jesus, and desiring to honor Jesus. At the same time, many of those same people willingly follow Jesus in every area of living except one or two specific areas. Sometimes, these places are apparent; sometimes not so much so. For instance, I have had counselees tell me, “I am willing to follow Jesus, but I can’t forgive this person.” Or, “I love God, but I think He understands that I need to be happy.” Maybe you get the idea. There are one or two places in life where the Christ-follower is simply not willing to trust or obey God in that one particular place. My question this morning to you and me alike, What is your “one thing”?

 

The “One Thing” can have many looks and many voices.

It is easy to justify ourselves, isn’t it? Maybe your thinking sounds something like this: “I think God understands. God knows my weakness. He understands.”

Or, possibly your thinking falls along these lines, “I need to do this in order to help my family. My responsibility is to them and if I do what I think God may want me to do, and it does not turn out well, what am I supposed to do then?”

Another couple of statements I’ve heard, “You just don’t understand how angry I am.”

“I know he/she wants me to do this and it would really make them happy or encourage them, but I am not willing.”

“If I try to do what honors the Lord in this moment, then he/she is just going to go back to the way he/she used to be. I can’t let that happen.”

Do you recognize any of those statements as something similar to what you think or say? Have you identified an area where you would sound close to one of these? Possibly, your issue is not listed yet, but you could at least jot yours down in this blog in your mind.

 

Should you keep one thing hidden from the Lord?

I imagine you know the answer to this question, but should you keep one thing from the Lord? Above I use the word “hidden” from the Lord because of a particular verse that is helpful to each of us. Consider this verse:

Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly in all wisdom, teaching and admonishing one another in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing with grace in your hearts to the Lord. (Colossians 3:16)

Notice that the Apostle Paul wrote, “Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly in all wisdom.” The key word here is dwell.

What does it mean for the word of Christ to dwell in you richly in all wisdom?

Dwell means to make itself at home. Although you may be welcome in our home, it is not your dwelling. You will not be invited to open every door and look through every drawer or closet. In fact, we may have one drawer or door locked. Welcome – yes. To dwell? – no. The same is true if I went to your home as well.

Back to the issue at hand. When counselees or others confess to following Jesus, loving Jesus, and desiring to honor Jesus, they are saying oftentimes that Jesus is welcome into their lives. He is a great guest, a great friend to have around, and a great companion. However, is He allowed to make the same person’s life His dwelling? Now, that’s a different issue.

Instead, we tuck the issue that we want to keep hidden from the light of the wisdom of the word of Christ in a drawer or a locked closet or underneath a bed.

The word of Christ does not dwell in us richly in all wisdom; instead, we give it limited access. We hold one area off from the rest.

 

What do you need to do?

These two steps are great beginning steps for you and me. First, think carefully through your heart and life to determine what that “one thing” is (or a group of one things). Determine that you want to open that door, unlock the closet, pull the drawer open to that area of your life. Second, go back to God’s Word again and begin to read with your list in mind. What is Christ’s wisdom to you? What do you need to do? What is the first step?

May God help you as you begin here.

 

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