One Thing

Psalm 27:4 "One thing I have asked of the Lord, that will I seek after: that I may dwell in the house of the Lord all the days of my life, to gaze upon the beauty of the Lord and to inquire in his temple."      

David asks God for one thing, to dwell in His presence. He doesn't ask for riches or fame or power but to be allowed to dwell, to enter into His presence and to remain there, to be able to have a close, intimate relationship with God. David loved God and He loved being with Him. He was taken with the beauty and majesty of Almighty God. 

This phrase, "one thing" should bring to remembrance a passage in Luke 10, where we have the story of Mary and Martha. They were sisters and friends of Jesus. One day He enters their village and goes to Martha's house. Beginning in verse 38 we read, "Jesus entered a village, and a woman named Martha welcomed him into her house. And she had a sister called Mary, who sat at the Lord's feet and listened to his teaching. But Martha was distracted with much serving. And she went up to Him and said, "Lord do you not care that my sister has left me to serve alone? Tell her then to help me." But the Lord answered her, "Martha, Martha, you are anxious and troubled about many things, but one thing is necessary. Mary has chosen the good portion, which will not be taken away from her." Mary chooses the one thing, the one good thing, the one thing that is necessary and that is to sit in the presence of the Lord, to sit at the feet of Jesus and take in what He is saying, to listen to His teaching, to hear the Word of God. 

Those of us that are older can remember a book called Having a Mary's Heart in a Martha's World. In this book women were divided into two groups, you were either a Mary or a Martha. Many women fall into the Martha group. She is a woman of action, a doer, she gets things done. If you want to have a food drive for the homeless...put a Martha in charge. Need someone to plan an event? Find a Martha. We see her in this story busy preparing for Jesus. She is cooking and cleaning and she is irritated with her sister who she sees as being lazy. Martha is serving which is commendable but she taken her focus from Jesus and instead is distracted by many things including her sister who isn't serving in the way Martha thinks she should. Mary is focused on Jesus, His presence and His teaching. She has focused on the one thing, she has chosen the good portion that will not be taken from her. The time that you and I spend in the presence of God, listening to Him, reading His Word, hearing His teachings, gazing upon His majesty, talking with Him, will not be wasted. 

Both David and Mary pursued the presence of God, they realized that the one thing is really the only thing that matters. Have we realized that or are we busy serving? Don't get me wrong serving is important, in fact the Bible is clear that Christians should be serving, but we also need to be fed. Servants need to sit at the feet of Jesus to be fed, encouraged, empowered, and filled up with Him. Otherwise we will be like Martha who was distracted by her service and anxious about many things.