One of the greatest things Jesus ever taught was the singleness of heart. He brought it up time and time again by asking His followers to have one single goal: Serve God. To the rich, He said to put your money in God’s economic system. To those who would cling to family inheritance, He said to leave it all behind for His inheritance. To the weak, He said, “Let me be your strength but admit you are weak first.” To the poor, He offered riches in heaven. To the downtrodden, He offered hope. To the desperate, He offered peace. To those closest to Him, He called for them to give their lives for Him. To all who followed with a singleness of heart, He used them in miraculous ways and the salvation story we present today is a direct reflection of those who had a singleness of heart. The one single thing He asked: Serve God.
Today a singleness of heart in anything seems almost impossible. Instead of having musicians and singers who have given themselves to their talent and use it in an extraordinary way, we have many who can play fairly well, or sing fairly well, but don’t get to excel because they are so stretched and busy doing everything else. Writers don’t have time to sit down and put on paper the many thoughts and stories that come to their mind because they can’t uncloud all the other stuff that is up there due to a hectic schedule. Bible study leaders prepare for leading a class and at the last minute pull together a good lesson but sometimes not a great lesson because they had something come up in another area they probably shouldn’t have volunteered for. A parent can’t be as good as they should because they are trying to juggle one thing after another and the plates are just about to fall. No singleness of heart. Multiplicity is our battle cry!
Maybe this year Christmas could be the time when we refresh our minds and our hearts and explore what God wants to do with our lives through serious prayer and soul searching. It would probably mean prioritizing and saying NO at times when we want to say YES. I believe if we would take a deep breath and pursue those things God impressed on us at the time of our salvation, we would begin to see a quality of living come into our lives that would radically change our attitude about life. Singleness of heart. Serve God. Focus on what HE wants and everything else will come into, or out of, focus quickly. Then you will discover a new world that is focused and purposeful.
The Pilgrimage continues…. David Warren