ONE THING

In Mark 10 we read the story of the rich young ruler. He had a problem. He wasn’t sure that he had eternal life. He came to the right One; to Jesus. Jesus points him to the law. As a good Israelite he would see the correctness of that. But he has done that and still has a nagging feeling that all is not right. In verse 21 Jesus tells him “One thing thou lackest”.

Jesus said in Matthew 11:30: “for My yoke is easy and My burden is light”. This statement is in direct contrast to His comment to the Jesus lawyers. In Luke 11:46 Jesus tells them that they “lade men with burdens grievous to be borne”. They had many rules; Jesus gave the rich young ruler just one. We see something of the same in Acts 15. There is a dispute about the Gentiles keeping the laws of Moses. In verse 28 we read the decision of the apostles and elders: “For it seemed good to the Holy Ghost, and to us, to lay upon you no greater burden than these necessary things”. In the next verse the Gentiles are told that if they do these few things “ye shall do well”.

As we read the Bible to learn what God would teach us, we will find that He never gives us a list of things to do. He will simply point to the one thing we are doing wrong and tell us “Do this and I will be satisfied”. Something may come up later as we do something else wrong, but He will point to just one thing. Remember, His burden is always easy. Now it possibly could be a hard thing as in the case of the young ruler, but also here God is ready to help. Jesus said, “With God all things are possible”.

In Psalm 97:12 we read, “and give thanks at the remembrance of His holiness”. Think about it. If you were caught doing wrong, would you rather face a truly godly man or a religious legalist. In John 8 we read of the Pharisees and the woman. They wanted her stoned but Jesus simply told her to “go and sin no more”. Again, just one thing.