One Thing (3-26-12)

Philippians 3:13-14 - "Brethren, I do not regard myself as having laid hold of it yet; but one thing I do: forgetting what lies behind and reaching forward to what lies ahead, I press on toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus."

In Philippians chapter 3 the apostle Paul talks about the focus of his life. He begins the chapter by talking about his tendency and ability to put confidence in the flesh, since he was a very religious person before he came to Christ, and he talks about all his credentials according to the flesh, as the best among the Jews, a pharisee of pharisees. But he then goes on to say, "But whatever things were gain to me, those things I have counted as loss for the sake of Christ. More than that, I count all things to be loss in view of the surpassing value of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord, for whom I have suffered the loss of all things, and count them but rubbish in order that I may gain Christ, and may be found in Him, not having a righteousness of my own derived from the Law, but that which is through faith in Christ, the righteousness which comes from God on the basis of faith, that I may know Him and the power of His resurrection and the fellowship of His sufferings, being conformed to His death; in order that I may attain to the resurrection from the dead." His life was completely turned around. He had been working in every area of his life to be the best that he could be, but after his encounter with Christ his life was completely different. Now he says "but one thing I do..." Paul's life now had a singular purpose, he was striving for perfection. He wanted his life to be completely devoted to God and growing closer to Him. Dedication to God means that anything that is not drawing you closer to God is put away. Paul says in 1 Corinthians 10:23 - "All things are lawful, but not all things are profitable. All things are lawful, but not all things edify." We are allowed to do a great many things, but we should be striving in our Christian lives to be single minded, to have our focus on one thing. That's all a part of escaping the lukewarm age that we're living in. If we're going to be living on fire for the Lord, then we need to have our eyes focused on Him only, and not be distracted by worthless things.
This single focus that Paul talks about is also talked about in the Old Testament. David says in Psalm 27:4 - "One thing I have asked from the LORD, that I shall seek: That I may dwell in the house of the LORD all the days of my life, To behold the beauty of the LORD And to meditate in His temple." Davids mind was focused on higher things. Just like Paul, he realized that he couldn't accomplish this dedication in his own strength. He asked for this one thing from the Lord. Paul said in Philippians 2 - "for it is God who is at work in you, both to will and to work for His good pleasure."
Jesus also talked about this in Luke chapter 10. In this chapter the Lord was visiting the house of Martha and Mary, you know the story. Martha was busy with the preparation while Mary was sitting at the feet of the Lord Jesus listening to Him. Finally Martha said “Lord, do You not care that my sister has left me to do all the serving alone? Then tell her to help me.” But Jesus said to her in verses 41-42 - “Martha, Martha, you are worried and bothered about so many things; but only one thing is necessary, for Mary has chosen the good part, which shall not be taken away from her.” Our lives can become so cluttered with many things, but only one thing is necessary. May we learn from the examples of Paul and David and Mary to be committed to the Lord. Not perfect, but striving for it, seeking to put away every distraction that is not drawing us closer to our Lord.

Philippians 3:13-14 - "Brethren, I do not regard myself as having laid hold of it yet; but one thing I do: forgetting what lies behind and reaching forward to what lies ahead, I press on toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus."