Willing the ONE THING.

So it has been awhile since I have posted anything. I have no good excuses, but I have several things on my mind. I guess I could tell you about the Adult Equipping Center class I’m teaching at Orangewood. I could also tell you about our “confession” night with the high school students last Wednesday which was absolutely amazing. I could also tell you how Heather and I have been up since 3 am because little Sydnie has been vomiting since then. But what is really on my mind is a recent teaching I heard entitled “Willing the One Thing.”

In a way only Rob Bell can, he crafted a teaching focusing on how Jesus went about his “business” so to speak. Jesus would often leave good things. Good opportunities. Needy People. He would leave because he knew there was ONE THING driving him. He must get to Jerusalem. He must suffer and die. He must. He must. He must. And so the Savior of humankind would turn his back on the lesser things for the greater.

Jesus was also highly intentional in his relationships. He knew he couldn’t be intimately close with the multitudes. In fact he couldn’t even be intimately close with all 12. He chose 3. He invested in 3. In doing so, he turned his back at times to the other 9. Once again the “main thing” stayed the main thing.

All of this caused me to ponder for the better part of yesterday what is the “one thing” in my life? Do I know yet? Will I ever know. Am I willing to “will the one thing”? I think so. Problem is I’m not always sure what that one thing is. Sure, I could give the cop-out answer and respond with “Jesus is the one thing”, but is that really what He’s getting at? Doubtful. It seems that the people that have had the most impact for the cause of the Kingdom were men and women who knew what they were supposed to pursue and then they chased with reckless abandon. They willed the one thing in their life.

There are plenty of things that spark my interest. Plenty of things that currently give me peace. Things that give me happiness. But if I’m honest, the ONE THING is rather elusive at the moment.