"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
“Whether he is a sinner or not, I don’t know.
One thing I do know. I was blind but now I see!” John 9:25
"Brothers and sisters, I do not
consider myself yet to have taken hold of it. But one thing I do: Forgetting
what is behind and straining toward what is ahead, I press on toward the goal to
win the prize for which God has called me heavenward in Christ Jesus." Philippians
3:13-14
When doing some reading this week I ran
into an article in an older publication that used the above three Bible texts
together. At first glance, my thoughts
led me to believe these are all three good, solid verses of Bible truth, but
they really have nothing to do with each other.
That is, until we take another look and notice each of the verses has
these words, "one thing." So
let's see if there is something here for us.
"One thing I ask,"
"One thing I know," and
"One thing I do."
The desire of the Psalmist and the only
thing he was asking for and seeking, was to meet God and come to know God in
his temple. He wanted to actually dwell
in the place where God was. He was asking for the chance to worship God while
experiencing the reality of God's presence.
Jesus came along to let us know God is not going to be isolated to a
temple, or any other place, he is going to take up residence in our
hearts. Our assembly on Sunday is a
dynamic place and time to seek and find God, and the association of other
Christians, but even more intimate than that is the worship and honor we can
come to know with God as we allow him to take up residence inside us.
The second of the verses above is from the
story of a blind man who had his sight given to him in one of the miracles of
Jesus. The Pharisees and other critics noticed the man could see and questioned
him about the authority of his healer. The man simply told them the only thing
he knew was that he was blind but now he could see. It's like the comparison of our lives before
we came to Jesus, with the new life he gives.
One thing we can know, at one time we were spiritually blind, but now we
can see.
Then Paul brings us the final text by
telling us the one thing he is going to do is to forget the past, and eagerly
strain for the future as he strives to win the prize that is before him. Our past, too, is behind us. Whatever the
past consists of, can all be forgiven and forgotten. That places us in a
position to only look ahead to a life of service and devotion to God and share
in the eternal inheritance which God promises.
Come to think of it, those three verses
which had nothing to do with each other, give us a better picture of having
everything to do with us. Think for a moment how you would describe the one
thing you desire, the one thing you know, and the one thing you will do. These three verses, written by three
different biblical writers, can provide the answers for your life questions.
<ronbwriting@gmail.com>
No comments:
Post a Comment