{"id":1604,"date":"2018-12-18T14:00:24","date_gmt":"2018-12-18T14:00:24","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/joy-in-the-journey.com\/?p=1604"},"modified":"2018-12-18T14:14:07","modified_gmt":"2018-12-18T14:14:07","slug":"choosing-one-thing","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/joy-in-the-journey.com\/?p=1604","title":{"rendered":"Choosing One Thing"},"content":{"rendered":"\r\n\r\nCan one thing<\/em> be the key to everything else in life? Could it be the mainspring which provides continual joy and infuses power into every other area? Curly seems to think so.\r\n

Curly<\/h2>\r\nIn the movie city Slickers, Curly, an old crusty cowboy, claims to know the key to life. With a cigarette hanging out of his mouth, he asks Mitch, played by Billy Crystal, if he knows the secret of life.\r\n\r\n\u201cNo. What?\u201d Mitch responds.\r\n\r\nHolding up one finger and smiling, Curly says \u201cThis.\u201d\r\n\r\n\u201cYour finger?\u201d Mitch asks.\r\n\r\nCurly says \u201cOne thing. Just one thing.\u201d He says if you stick with it, everything else means nothing. (Curly actually used a bit rougher language)<\/em>\r\n\r\n\u201cWhat\u2019s the one thing?\u2019 Mitch asks.\r\n\r\n\u201cThat\u2019s what you have to figure out,\u201d Curly answers.\r\n\r\nMitch isn’t satisfied with Curly\u2019s answer, but the old cowboy is on to something.\r\n

Jesus in the house<\/h2>\r\nLuke tells us about a time Jesus was invited into Martha\u2019s home. She had a sister named Mary who sat at Jesus\u2018s feet, listening to His words. Martha, on the other hand, was so focused on the preparations, she was distracted. She became resentful toward Mary and complained to Jesus.\r\n\r\nBut like Mitch, she didn\u2019t get the answer she desired.\r\n\r\nMartha, Martha you are anxious and troubled about so many things; but one things is necessary. Mary has chosen the good portion, which will not be taken away from her. Luke 10:41-42 (ESV)<\/strong><\/em>\r\n

Distracted<\/h2>\r\nI sympathize with Martha. She wanted Jesus to feel welcome. I can identify with feeling distracted (to be driven about mentally, to be over<\/em> occupied, too busy). <\/em>I can get so focused on what I\u2019m doing, people fall from my radar.\r\n\r\nWhy?\r\n\r\nAs I ponder this with the Lord, I realize I\u2019ve falsely believed\u00a0 life has to be going well for me to be okay. When deadlines loom and stress builds, I can get distracted with what I\u2019m doing, caring more about the duties than people.\r\n\r\nBut God is showing me life going well can never be what makes me okay. This is a complete paradigm shift in the way I view each day.\r\n\r\nLike Martha, I can still become anxious and troubled by what needs to be done. But I\u2019m learning to enjoy the Lord\u2019s nearness as I work, seeing everything I do as an opportunity to love the people He places in my path. There\u2019s real joy in that.\r\n

One Thing<\/h2>\r\nMary chose the one necessary thing. She was with Jesus, seated at His feet, listening; the posture of a disciple. As believers, Jesus indwells us by his Holy Spirit. He is with us, even while we carry out life\u2019s duties. However, like Martha, we can allow what we\u2019re doing to be the one thing.\r\n\r\nIn the 1600s, Nicolas Herman served in the kitchen of a French monastery. Known for his intimacy with the Lord, he was given the name Brother Lawrence. His friends, complied a book of his letters and sayings, entitled Practice of the Presence of God<\/u>. Nicolas learned to experience God in every aspect of life. He said he felt as close to God peeling potatoes as he did kneeling at the altar.\r\n\r\nLike Nicolas, Mary chose to focus on Jesus. She worshipped Him. She chose Him above all else – her sister\u2019s approval, the food preparations, the cultural norm.\r\n\r\nMartha was dissatisfied with life.\u00a0 Mary was satisfied with Jesus.\r\n

A Word for Martha<\/h2>\r\nI long to be satisfied with Jesus, just like Mary. But I still identify with Martha. What can I learn from what Jesus said to her?\r\n\r\n\u201cMartha, Martha.\u201d <\/em>Repeating her name was not a sign of frustration, but of intimacy.\r\n\r\nJesus loved Martha. He loves us. He doesn\u2019t want us anxious and troubled as we go about our duties.\u00a0 He wants us focused and satisfied with Him. He doesn\u2019t want us distracted with accomplishments, success and a smooth, happy life. All these things are fine, but they can\u2019t bring contentment; only Jesus can.\r\n

Challenge<\/h2>\r\nIdentify a time you\u2019ve felt anxious and troubled. Can you pin point why? Spend some time alone with the Lord pondering the event. Ask Him to reveal the source of your distraction. He\u2019ll show you what you\u2019ve chosen above Him. When He does, make a choice to surrender it to Him. Choose to be satisfied with Jesus alone. He wants us free to fully experience the joy and peace of His presence.\r\n

Prayer<\/h2>\r\n\u00a0Lord, it\u2019s so easy to get distracted. I can be clearly focused on You one moment and over busy and preoccupied the next. Show me how being focused on You doesn\u2019t mean I\u2019m neglecting what needs to be done. Like Brother Lawrence, help me experience your nearness just as much while I\u2019m doing office work as when I\u2019m quietly reading my Bible. Without you I flounder. Like Mary, I choose to sit at Your feet as Your disciple, listening to Your words, worshipping You every step of my day. This is my choice. Guide me and empower me I pray.<\/em>\r\n\r\n \r\n\r\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Can one thing be the key to everything else in life? Could it be the mainspring which provides continual joy and infuses power into every other area? Curly seems to think so.<\/p>\n

In the movie city Slickers, Curly, an old crusty cowboy, claims to know the key to life. With a cigarette hanging out of his mouth, he asks Mitch, played by Billy Crystal, if he knows the secret of life.<\/p>\n

\u201cNo. What?\u201d Mitch responds.<\/p>\n

Holding up one finger and smiling, Curly says \u201cThis.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cYour finger?\u201d Mitch asks.<\/p>\n

Curly says \u201cOne thing. Just one thing.\u201d He says if you stick with it, everything else means nothing. (Curly actually used a bit rougher language)<\/p>\n

\u201cWhat\u2019s the one thing?\u2019 Mitch asks.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":1614,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"nf_dc_page":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[804],"tags":[787,70,789,795,784,785,786,800,801,783,205,493,513,20,162,200,199,794,674,788,792,797,796,793,802,798,74,791,790,799],"class_list":["post-1604","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-satisfying-joy","tag-anxious","tag-being-with-jesus","tag-bothered","tag-brother-lawrence","tag-city-slickers","tag-curly","tag-deadlines","tag-disciple","tag-dissatisfied-with-life","tag-distracted","tag-enjoying-jesus","tag-following-jesus","tag-idols","tag-jesus","tag-luke-1038-42","tag-martha","tag-mary","tag-nicolas-herman","tag-one-thing","tag-over-busy","tag-paradigm-shift","tag-peeling-potatoes","tag-proctice-of-the-presence-of-god","tag-real-joy","tag-satisfied-with-jesus","tag-seated-at-his-feet","tag-stress","tag-troubled","tag-worried","tag-worship"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/joy-in-the-journey.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1604","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/joy-in-the-journey.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/joy-in-the-journey.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/joy-in-the-journey.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/joy-in-the-journey.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=1604"}],"version-history":[{"count":21,"href":"https:\/\/joy-in-the-journey.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1604\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1657,"href":"https:\/\/joy-in-the-journey.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1604\/revisions\/1657"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/joy-in-the-journey.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/1614"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/joy-in-the-journey.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=1604"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/joy-in-the-journey.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=1604"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/joy-in-the-journey.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=1604"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}