One Thing Needful
One Thing Needful
Are you easily distracted in your Christian walk?
What is it that you try to concentrate on to get closer to God?
Have you chosen one thing to focus on?
Does God’s word tell us what to focus on?
Yes!!
Luke 10:42 (KJV) But one thing is needful and Mary hath chosen that good part, which shall not be taken away from her.What is that one thing needful?
Luke 10:39 (KJV) And she had a sister called Mary, which also sat at Jesus’ feet, and heard his word.If sitting at Jesus’ feet and hearing his word is the one thing that is needful then it follows that we as Christians should be doing this. So what does that look like?
I don’t imagine that sitting at Jesus’ feet and hearing his word will look exactly the same for every person or even for every person during their entire lifetime but we can glean some principles from these scriptures.
“Our sitting at Christ’s feet, when we hear his word, signifies a readiness to receive it, and a submission and entire resignation of ourselves to the guidance of it.“1
In some way we must hear his word.
I think that is the key principle that this verse is referring to. I believe this means the rhema word and not just the logos word. That means not only reading our Bibles or listening to a sermon or meditating on the word or being silent in His presence but doing those things until a word is quickened to our spirit. (A verse “jumps off the page” or a sentence really catches your attention and resonates with your spirit or you hear that still small voice inside you.)
It is helpful to compare what Mary did to what Martha did.
Luke 10:40-41 (KJV) But Martha was cumbered [distracted] about much serving, and came to him , and said , Lord, dost thou not care that my sister hath left me to serve alone? bid her therefore that she help me. And Jesus answered and said unto her, Martha, Martha, thou art careful and troubled about many things…Martha was distracted.
What is the cure for distraction?
Focus.
One definition of focus is “to fix or settle on one thing“. Back to that “one thing” again!
So what ONE THING are you going to focus on in your Christian walk? Please share it in the comment section below.
Join the conversation. Share your ideas or questions in the comment form below.
Other blog posts you may like:
Notes: 1-Matthew Henry’s Complete Commentary from: http://www.biblestudytools.com/commentaries/matthew-henry-complete/luke/10.html
(c) Cheryl Cope 2013
Cheryl Cope on Google+
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I believe i have a big focus on prayer and that manifests the aligning of guidance and convictions.
That’s good as real prayer involves listening as well as talking!
Well, I think the “one thing” would be trying on a daily basis to be open to not only what I may have come before me in the Bible or being open to spontaneous praying throughout the day. Good thoughts!
Good ideas!! I hope that works for you to keep you truly connected to God.
My one thing is memorizing scripture. I love having scripture on the tip of my tongue, especially when life gets crazy or stressful. Sitting at Jesus’ feet. GREAT advice!
Memorizing scripture is certainly a good one!
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gilgaljames@yahoo.com
Jesus’ message is simple. Love one another, even your enemies, and judge not. It is by the example of our life, not our words, that we change the world.
Those are really good things to focus on. Thanks for commenting!
I have learned my ‘one thing’ must be to seek God and find refuge in His shelter before the enemy attacks. It is our seeking that gives us confidence knowing we are hidden in the secret place.
Love that. I’m sure you know exactly what you mean by getting into the secret place. Some readers might find that very vague.
My main focus is to spend time with Jesus – in His Word, praying, worshiping, and listening to that still small voice. I guess that is more than one focus but they all come packaged together for me.
Sounds great to me. The focus is on Him.
I’m going to settle on doing the last thing God told me to do, which is to teach and inspire Christians to BELIEVE. We can’t continue to struggle with faith and expect to win the world for Christ. But when we are CONVINCED of who God is – perfect, matchless, incomparable, all-sufficient, and all powerful – then we can win the world because we KNOW who we serve. Thanks for this great post!
Perfect. Obedience. We all need a little more of that. Glad you liked the post.
Hi Cheryl! To be IN the Word of God and the Word of God IN me – and to have my main focus on WHERE I need to change rather tan trying to straighten out the whole world, which I’ll never be able to do – BUT GOD CAN – through His Word which is for ALL people, ALL languages, ALL ages, ALL nations. May I NEVER take my eyes off this/these goals!
Love the way you worded that! I agree with your desire to never take your eyes off your godly goals.