One Thing

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“One thing I have asked of the Lord, and that I will seek: that I may dwell in the house of the Lord (in His Presence) all the days of my life, to gaze upon the beauty (the delightful loveliness and majestic grandeur) of the Lord and to meditate in His temple.” Psalm 27: 4 (Amp.) 


There are a lot of distracted Christians today- and I admit- I am one of them.  As I get older, I seem to get distracted more easily. It takes me much longer to “get myself together” in the morning these days- and I’m not talking cosmetically.  I am talking about getting all my joints and limbs to “get it together” and start moving in the same direction- hopefully forward! After a restless night- my back aches, my joints hurt and just getting out of bed and down the steps to let our dog outside- becomes a grand event.Once I get my body moving in the right direction then I can be distracted or overwhelmed at the things that I need to do that day.  It isn’t that I forget about the Lord, but I allow other things to take me away from that ONE THING- to consistently dwell my mind on the Lord.  I love how the Amplified version puts it- “to gaze upon the beauty (the delightful loveliness and majestic grandeur) of the Lord.  And, oh-- isn’t He altogether lovely and majestic!  But when I allow the natural aspects of the  aging process, or all the turmoil and confusion that is going on in the world plus my day to day responsibilities to put a layer of fog on the beauty and loveliness of the Lord- I become distracted and try to focus on these things instead of that ONE THING.

Luke 10:38-42 tells the familiar story of Mary and Martha.  Understand, we need both Mary’s and Martha's in the Church today.  But we need to be aware of the circumstances and what is the priority for the moment.  The Amplified versions puts it this way: Martha was “over occupied and too busy.”  Yes! We can be too busy!  Activity is not spirituality.  God doesn’t want us so busy doing FOR Him that we have no time to be WITH Him. Martha missed out on that ONE THING that day. She allowed herself to be so busy and distracted with what was going on around her that she missed out on WHO was there.  She missed out on just sitting at Jesus’ feet and taking Him all in. I wonder what kind of things that Jesus told Mary which Martha never heard because she was so distracted. I wonder how much I miss hearing what Jesus has to say to me because I am so busy and distracted by the things around me.  True- we all have our certain jobs and responsibilities in our lives.  But how many times we miss out “seeing” Jesus, miss out on the “delightful loveliness and majestic grandeur” of the Lord and meditate on Him- because we feel that we just “have” to get something else done.

Have you been truly captivated by God?  We should be so captivated and caught up with the Lord that His will becomes our will.  We truly become one.  We need fresh manna in our daily lives. So many times, our “daily bread” is moldy and stale all because we have neglected that ONE THING. Don’t settle for a cheap counterfeit substitute or at the least a stale relationship.  Keep it fresh and up to date. Desire a true, real intimate relationship with Christ.  It is the ONE THING that will last throughout eternity.  Everything else will fade away, but our relationship with Christ will never end. Desire fervently the pearl of great price. You may have to let some earthly ties go. Desire fresh manna daily.  These can only be found in ONE THING- spending time in the lovely majestic Presence of the Lord.



 “O God, You are my God; with deepest longing I will seek You; my soul (my life, my very self) thirsts for You, my flesh longs and sighs for You, in a dry and weary land where there is not water. So, I have gazed upon You in the sanctuary, to see Your power and Your glory.”
Psalm 63:1-2


~ Donna




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