Sabbath Thought - One Thing Well

The famous martial artist, Bruce Lee, is quoted as saying, "I fear not the man who has practiced 10,000 kicks once, but I fear the man who has practiced one kick 10,000 times." His point was that the person who practiced one thing well was the expert in that thing as opposed to the person who did many things at a mediocre level.

Our calling is to salvation - eternal life. The concept of mortal, carnal flesh becoming eternal can be overwhelming at times as we see and consider our failings and shortcomings. How does the imperfect become perfect? The imperfect becomes the perfect by emulating perfection. In respect to our calling, perfection is not about lack of error - even those we consider to be the epitome of a certain skill or talent make mistakes. However, the difference is that they don't let those mistakes sidetrack their focus, and they learn from their mistakes to continue their pursuit of perfection. The other thing is that when God tells us to become perfect, He is primarily referring to becoming morally perfect. That is, we are to emulate His character to become spiritually complete.

The secret to those who become recognized experts or those who are at the pinnacle of their field of study or work, is that they master one thing at a time, and then build on that with the next thing to master. When God first called us, we were truly spiritual babes. Human babies know nothing when they are first born, but they learn. Their minds are like sponges soaking up everything around them. They strive to learn the thing that is in front of them, and then they learn the next thing, building on what they have learned so that within a few short years they have a foundation to build on for the rest of their life.

Spiritually we would do well to mimic this pattern. To consider everything we need to learn, everything that we realize we don't know or understand well, or everything that we begin to see in what and who God is can be too much. Instead, focus on doing one thing well. For example, deeply study one verse rather than blowing through several chapters and not remembering what was read. Take that verse and consider the meaning in the original language. Consider that verse in the theme of the chapter or book. Deeply ponder the application of making that verse real in our life. Think about how God's instruction reveals our future course of action and how we are to reflect God more fully by living that verse in our life. Practice that verse 10,000 times, and then use it to practice the next spiritual thing 10,000 times, until we reflect our God as He desires.

If we do, we can be assured to hear these words from Him, "Well done, good and faithful servant; you were faithful over a few things, I will make you ruler over many things. Enter into the joy of your lord," (Matthew 25:21).

I wish you a profitable and value filled Sabbath,

Dan Dowd

27 July, 2024