The One Thing

When you play “Mexican Train” you’re always looking for a way to arrange your dominos so that it makes the longest chain possible. It really means you’re looking for the one domino at the start which unpacks the greatest possibilities. The same is true of Scrabble: how do I build words that use as many of my letters as possible. Again, you’re looking for the starting point – which letter do I start with in order to involve as many other letters as possible?

I find myself wondering about the life equivalent of that same challenge: what one life decision do I start with in order to trigger the greatest change throughout the rest of my life. Where’s the ‘trigger’ that starts a chain reaction?

It says in Matthew 6:33 that it starts with Him (Jesus) and His ‘Kingdom’. Great. An infinite good inside an infinite personality as expressed in a Kingdom that never ends. That’s quite a first step. I need something more targeted within just ‘Him’ and His ‘Kingdom’ because either of those are big enough to consume a whole life time of thought. I need the first step toward the first step.

Here’s what I came up with based on an entry in my journal from late January 2005. It’s a single sentence I’ve been using to try to keep my thoughts focused on that first step toward the first step: “I want to find the whisper of His voice in the hurricane of my own selfishness.” Imagine. Before we change, we need to know how and what. With his voice in our ear, there’s nothing we can’t do. Just imagine. Every day, I try to make that my first step toward the first step.

Have a great week,

Chris