One Thing Only

Transcript

Hello, my friend… so glad you're with me today. This is By God's Call — day 279, One Thing Only.

"One thing have I 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." Psalm 27:4.

Let that land for a moment.

David was not a man with a simple life. He governed a kingdom. He led armies. He carried joys that few have known and sorrows that few could bear. His life was full — full of responsibility, full of noise, full of voices pulling at him from every direction. And yet, in the middle of all of it, he funneled the deepest longing of his heart into one single direction. One thing. Just one.

When everything competes for our attention — and today, everything does — the courage to say "one thing" is itself an act of faith. It is a declaration that something exists that is more real, more permanent, more necessary than every other thing shouting for us.

And what is that one thing? To dwell. Not to visit. Not to drop in when there is a crisis, or when Sunday comes around, or when life gets quiet enough to allow it. To dwell — all the days of his life. There is a world of difference between passing through God and living in him. Jesus himself called us to abide — to stay, to remain, to plant the roots of our life inside his. And David knew it already, centuries before: the human heart was not made for visits. It was made to live there.

And what does it find when it does? The beauty of the LORD. What a rich phrase that is. It is not a task to complete or an obligation to check off a list. It is a lingering look. A quiet marveling. Christ is the full revelation of that beauty — grace and truth, mercy and power, gathered together in one person. And when we stop long enough to truly behold him, something happens inside us. We are changed by what we see. Not by our own effort — by the encounter itself.

And alongside gazing comes inquiring. The psalmist doesn't only admire — he also asks. He brings into God's presence the things he doesn't understand, the things that trouble him, the questions that don't yet have answers. It is the posture of someone who says: I don't have it all figured out, but I know where to go. Beauty and wisdom travel together in his presence. The place where we behold the glory of Christ is the very same place where we find direction for every decision we are carrying.

And then comes the phrase that changes everything: all the days of my life. Not only on the easy days. Not only when a crisis forces our hand. Every single day. It is this continuity — this quiet faithfulness, day after day — that shapes character, deepens faith, and keeps us rooted when the winds shift. And they always shift.

So today, before breakfast, do this one thing: say out loud to God — just one sentence, sincerely — that he is your one thing today. Not an elaborate prayer. One real sentence. And then sit in silence for two minutes. Don't do anything else. Just gaze on who he is. Let his beauty settle over you.

Stay close to God. Pray — then act. I'll see you tomorrow, my friend.