One Thing is Needed
Several years ago, I read a popular book by Gary Keller titled, “The One Thing.” In his book, Gary essentially asks the question, “What is the one thing that needs to be done that will enable you to accomplish all other things?” For example, if you moved into a house and had a goal to finish a family room, what is the one thing that must be done before anything else? Consider the following list and you decide on the one thing needed first.
- Purchase the finish paint
- Begin constructing the bookshelves
- Pick out the perfect television set
- Design a plan for the room
The one thing on this list should be obvious. As much as my personal preference may be to construct bookshelves (yes – I love books), the truth is that I need a plan for the room first. Unfortunately, the one thing for most goals in life are not this simple. Sometimes we do not know where to begin.
In keeping with the spirit of Family Life Tuesday, I want to help you begin to integrate this philosophy into the spiritual direction of yourself or your family. You begin by setting the right goals. Decide today on an important goal for yourself concerning your walk with Christ. Here are some thoughts that may spark your own creativity.
- I want to teach a class about _______ (discipleship? The church? The book of Romans? Jesus? God’s Peace? Etc.).
- I want to spend five hours a week in prayer.
- I want to share the gospel with _________.
- I need to be a better husband by planning a date night with my wife at least once every two weeks.
I could list many more. However, the intention is not for me to give you a list to pick a goal. I hope this list leads you to create a goal for yourself. If you can’t, by all means, use one of the goals above or email me for more thoughts and I will gladly provide options. I also hope you notice a key characteristic of the above goals. They are all SPECIFIC. Vague goals are hardly ever achieved. For example, countless have said, “I need to lose weight.” Some achieve it, but most don’t. However, the person who says, “I have a goal to lose 12 pounds over the next 3 months,” has a much better chance for success.
Once you have your goal, it is time to consider your one thing that has to happen before anything else. For example, with the goal of spending five hours per week in prayer, your one thing may be giving up Netflix on Monday, Wednesday, and Friday in order to create enough time to add to your current prayer life. For the goal, “I want to share the gospel with ______,” the one thing may be learning more about Jesus and the gospel in order to develop confidence and boldness to reach out to this person. Or, it may be to begin improving your relationship with this person because you believe it will enhance the possibility of this person’s consideration.
Too many Christians and families suffer today in relation to God because there is little direction. Consequently, Christian families waste precious years with little more than a background thought of growing in Christianity. Jesus, however, has revealed many tasks for us in His word. What is the one goal you need to follow immediately? What is the one thing needed to make this goal a reality?