This is an inscription from a window pane in Southold, New England, which came to mind as I read from Philippians 3 this morning:
Philippians 3:7–14 — But whatever gain I had, I counted as loss for the sake of Christ. 8 Indeed, I count everything as loss because of the surpassing worth of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord. For his sake I have suffered the loss of all things and count them as rubbish, in order that I may gain Christ 9 and be found in him, not having a righteousness of my own that comes from the law, but that which comes through faith in Christ, the righteousness from God that depends on faith— 10 that I may know him and the power of his resurrection, and may share his sufferings, becoming like him in his death, 11 that by any means possible I may attain the resurrection from the dead. 12 Not that I have already obtained this or am already perfect, but I press on to make it my own, because Christ Jesus has made me his own. 13 Brothers, I do not consider that I have made it my own. But one thing I do: forgetting what lies behind and straining forward to what lies ahead, 14 I press on toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus.
Here is the story behind the inscription:
Evangelist George Whitefield visited the house of a Mr Thomas Fanning in 1765. Mr Fanning was ‘possessed of an abundance of the good things of this life’ but according to George Whitefield was destitute of the ‘one thing needful’; namely to stop and listen to Jesus and and have his life changed for the better – the quote is from Luke 10:42
‘In the morning, Mr. Whitefield arose, and ere he left the room in which he had lodged, wrote with a diamond on the pane of glass those important words…. Since that time, the house has been occupied by a number of different occupants; it has several times been repaired; nearly every pane of glass has been broken, yet this distinguished one remains entire to this day (written in 1828), being a period of more than sixty years.’
In Luke 10, Martha had her eyes focused on the here and now - the challenges of serving her guests and the frustration that she had been left alone to do it while Mary sat at Jesus’ feet to listen to His teaching. She had become distracted, anxious and troubled, forgetting that the Prince of Peace was in her home! Jesus reminds her that only one thing is really necessary for her (one thing is her “duty,” her “business,” as the word for “necessary” can be translated). Mary was in the right place, doing the right thing!
Paul displays the same focus and single-mindedness in the passage above. He has many qualifications that the world esteemed to be of value, but he regards them as rubbish compared with pressing on to know Christ! He will not allow these worldly things to distract him from the glorious prize that is his in Christ.
It is really easy to get our attention taken away from Jesus, and in these days especially to give in to periods of distraction (to take our minds off the coronavirus) anxiety (because we do not know where this issue will end) and frustration (at having our normal routines turned upside down). Let’s sit at Jesus’ feet for a while and hear what the Prince of Peace, Who dwells in our hearts, has to say to us today. That is the one thing that is needful!
