One Thing

I have been asked on several occasions why I travel and speak other places but do not speak regularly in my own church. I believe the answer to this is not just that weekly pulpiteering is not my calling, but also that I really only have one message. The one truth that consumes me and that I continue to reach for in my own private life is intimacy. Intimacy with God should be the cornerstone of a believers life. There are many worthwhile causes and callings that a person could pursue, but our first and foremost priority, and the very reason for which we exist is deep, unprotected intimacy with the God of the universe. It is that simple.

There are many great heroes in scripture with whom I could identify, but the one person I go back to again and again is Mary of Bethany (Luke 10:38-42). Perhaps she was quiet, simple, and unassuming, but more than anything she was wholly surrendered and therein lay her obsession. Nothing captivated her as He did and what others thought of her relentless pursuit meant nothing to her. Her reward was oneness with Him and it was all that mattered to her. In her amazing book, Adoration, Martha Kilpatrick says this of Mary; "Mary moved in a relationship, comfortable and private, so intimate that He was her world, a literal realm in which she lived, secluded within His presence." I believe that we can be fully present in the duties and obligations of this life while at the same time live as Mary did, "secluded within His presence." It is my passion to get to that place of utter fascination, unguarded receptivity and unbroken gazing. I am far from there on many days, but always it is what I deeply desire. And it is my mission to corrupt as many other lives as possible, infecting them with a voracious hunger for this "one thing" that is everything.