The One Thing

Sometimes I am asked about sermon preparation and how I "put together" my teachings. One of my initial responses is that the hardest part of creating a presentation is picking the topic. Everything after that just seems to fall into place.

Stanely Goldsein once said, "The trick in life is to decide what's your major aim....once that's settled, you can get on with the happy, orderly process of achieving it."

I agree with that. What is your purpose? What is your goal in life? What is your aim?

Paul writes in Philippians 3:13....but one thing I do...." Paul was single-minded, focused. And everything else fell into place.

In the movie “City Slickers,” Billy Crystal plays a confused, dissatisfied thirty-something character with a vague sense that life is passing him by. Jack Palance- ancient, leathery, wise to the ways of the world (“a saddlebag with eyes”) – asks Crystal if he would like to know the secret of life.

“it’s this,” Palance says, holding up a single finger.
“The secret of life is your finger?” asks Crystal.
“It’s one thing,” Palance replies. “The secret of life is pursuing one thing.”

Somehow this resonates deeply with Billy Crystal’s character.

His life is scattered. He is torn between his obligation to his family and his desire for career advancement; between his need for security and his appetite for excitement.

He is divided somehow. His life is about many things, and so, he senses, it is about nothing.

The way to take your life from nothing to something is to figure out the "one thing" that God has called you to do - and do it. And everything else will naturally mesh with the purpose he has for your life.