THAT ONE IMPORTANT THING | Northstar Church

“The one thing I ask of the LORD— the thing I seek most— is to live in the house of the LORD all the days of my life, delighting in the LORD’s perfections and meditating in his Temple.” – Psalm 27:4

If you could ask God what He desires most from you, what do you think He would say? Would it be for you to give more, serve more, or share your faith more? Would He ask that you become more involved in church activities, join a church family, or attend more regularly? Do you think, at the end of the day, that God wants you to do more for Him?

David asks one thing of the Lord in Psalm 27. He is crystal clear. David’s one thing is this: continual and unhurried abiding in God’s beautiful, wise, and holy presence. This is what he’s seeking. This is what he wants.

Is that what we want? Too often we see God as a means to an end by asking Him to provide us with this or that. The trouble with that thinking is that we should be looking to God, not as a means to an end, but God as the end. He’s the one we want. He’s the one we need. So like David, our prayer is to make God our heart’s solitary desire. To love God with all our heart and all our soul and all our mind and all our strength.

There are a few instances recorded in the Bible when Jesus told His followers what “one thing” He most desired. When the rich young ruler came to Jesus to inquire about eternal life, Jesus lovingly told him that he lacked one thing. “Go, sell everything you own and give it to the poor. Then, come follow Me,” Jesus told him. Was Jesus telling him to work for salvation? Of course not. He was, however, telling him to abandon everything for His sake. There could be nothing of more value in the young ruler’s life than Jesus. Scripture tells us that the man went away sad because he was wealthy. He was unwilling to give up all he had to follow Jesus.

And then there were the two sisters, Mary and Martha. When Jesus came to their home to dine, Martha was busy in the kitchen working to serve her Lord. She became frustrated with her sister, who was “just sitting” with Jesus, not doing any work. Martha asks Jesus to make Mary help her, and what does Jesus say, ”There is only one thing worth being concerned about. Mary has discovered it, and it will not be taken away from her.” (Luke 10:42). How many of us are busy in the kitchen, yet missing the one thing that is needed?

Prayer often involves focusing on many things that have our attention or capture our interest. But at the center of it all, drawing all things together and making sense of it all, is just one thing. This is what we should ask about. This is what we should seek. This is who we should seek. What might happen in our life if, like David, we were to pray one thing—day after day, week after week, month after month, year after year? How might you change, even if only a little bit at a time?

What one thing are you seeking? If it’s not Jesus, you are missing out on the great purpose for which you have been created.

Discussion Questions:

When you think about God, what feelings arise? Do you feel light, cared for, and safe? David does in Psalm 27. If you don’t feel these things, what do your feelings say about how you see God these days? Take a little time to think and pray about this.
Take a moment to list the many things in your life that concern you, interest you, involve you, and keep you from being unhurried. Can you imagine these as countless spokes of a wheel around a singular hub? Why not pray David’s prayer in verse 4 word for word as a way of remembering that one thing to which God invites us.