Devotional.
I adore music. I can't get enough of it. It's pretty much always on in the house.
I love introducing my two boys to all the great music and musicians that have made an impact on my life.
I do, however, struggle with music in church.
The church we go to has the music very loud and I find it so distracting that I can never really connect with God in that environment.
But there is one worship band's music that I really connect with, and that's Housefires.
Many of their songs are so simple that they allow me to really draw near to God in a way other worship songs don't.
One of my favorite songs is this one called The One Thing. I often have it on repeat while I'm working.
The simplicity of that song captures a message that I think is more relevant than ever in our current society and culture and that's this...
Our souls weren't designed to be satisfied by accumulation.
We accumulate so much. More opportunities, more possessions, more experiences.
We're convinced that fulfillment is just one more thing away. But no matter how much we acquire, there's still an emptiness that nothing seems to fill.
We were made for one thing: God Himself.
Not God plus success.
Not God plus the perfect life.
Just God.
And when we try to fill that God-shaped void with anything else, we end up exhausted, overwhelmed, and unsatisfied.
When we make Him the one thing, everything else finds its proper place.
When we seek Him first, the chaos calms. When we stop chasing a thousand things and focus on the One Thing, we discover that He was what we were looking for all along.
This isn't about adding God to your already full life, it's about building your life around Him as the center around which everything else revolves.
Not as one item on an endless to-do list, but as the foundation upon which everything else is built.
Lord, You are the one thing that I need.
Prayer.
Lord, You are the one thing that I need, the only essential, the single necessity when everything else is optional or secondary.
I accumulate so many things thinking they're needs, chasing security, comfort, success, approval, but none of them are the one thing that actually matters.
Teach me to distinguish between what I want and what I truly need, to recognize that You alone satisfy the deepest hunger, the core longing, the fundamental requirement of my soul.
The one thing means You're not one item on a list of needs but the singular necessity, that everything else is addition or distraction from the main thing.
Help me simplify my life around this truth, to stop treating You as one need among many and start recognizing You're the need that, when met, makes everything else fall into proper perspective.
Remind me that Martha was worried about many things but Mary chose the one thing needed, sitting at Your feet, prioritizing Your presence above all the urgent demands.
Give me clarity to see what's truly essential, courage to let go of what isn't, and wisdom to organize my life around the one thing that I actually need.
Let me live today focused on the one thing, knowing that Lord, You are the one thing that I need, and having You, I have everything that truly matters.
In Jesus' name,
Amen.
