Opening Prayer: Lord, I am yours; I do yield myself up
entirely to you, and I believe that you do take me. I leave myself with you. Work in me all the good pleasure of your
will, and I will only lie still in your hands and trust you. Amen. (The Christian’s Secret of a
Happy Life by Hannah Whitall Smith)
Scripture: Mark 10:21
Journal: What is the one thing you lack?
Reflection:
There is a created order to all things; an
intentional design. When that created order is followed, life is the
result. But whenever that created order is not adhered to, there is
chaos. That's why Jesus, when he was asked by "an expert in the
law" in Matthew 22 which commandment was the greatest, immediately
responds (from Deuteronomy 6:5): "Love the Lord your God with all your
heart and with all your soul and with all your mind. This is the first
and greatest commandment. And the second is like it: love your neighbor
as yourself. All the Law and the Prophets hang on these two commandments."
For there is even—and most particularly—a created order to our
"loves." For unless we love God with all of our being first,
we can never truly love anyone or anything else with the love that we were
created to love them with. As Henri Nouwen put it years ago,
"The second love, can only be a reflection of the first."
Therefore when we love something or someone more than we love God, we have
gone against the created order, which produces all kinds of disorder and
chaos. The saints and the poets knew this well and have discussed it
in detail through the ages. In fact, centuries ago Ignatius spoke of this
very phenomenon when he used the term disordered affections.
I actually think that's what Jesus was getting at when he was talking to the rich young ruler. He looked at him and loved him because He realized that the real issue was that this young man's affections were disordered, and Jesus wanted so much more for him than that. That's why He tells him that there's still one thing he lacks. One thing. It is the same one thing that Martha lacked (in Luke 10). That one thing was making Jesus his one thing. That one thing was having Jesus as his first and truest affection. For if Jesus is our first and truest affection, then the other things (or the many things in the case of Luke 10:41) of this life seem to fall in order behind that. Our lives become centered on and rooted in the love of Jesus.
Unfortunately disordered affections can be a very difficult thing to recognize. Because the things that end up occupying most of our time and energy (which is a very good way to tell what's really in the center of our lives) are often very good things: job, work, accomplishments, reputation, service, ministry, achievements, hobbies, exercise, even family activities. But Jesus was pretty direct in saying that when anything takes precedence over our affection for him (one thing), we have made that thing the center of our lives—a spot that was designed only for him to occupy. So the questions I am left to answer regularly are: What occupies most of my time and energy and focus these days? What is my one thing right now? And what does it really look like to hold Jesus as my first and truest affection? The answer to these questions can give me a pretty good idea about whether my life, and my affections, are properly ordered.
I actually think that's what Jesus was getting at when he was talking to the rich young ruler. He looked at him and loved him because He realized that the real issue was that this young man's affections were disordered, and Jesus wanted so much more for him than that. That's why He tells him that there's still one thing he lacks. One thing. It is the same one thing that Martha lacked (in Luke 10). That one thing was making Jesus his one thing. That one thing was having Jesus as his first and truest affection. For if Jesus is our first and truest affection, then the other things (or the many things in the case of Luke 10:41) of this life seem to fall in order behind that. Our lives become centered on and rooted in the love of Jesus.
Unfortunately disordered affections can be a very difficult thing to recognize. Because the things that end up occupying most of our time and energy (which is a very good way to tell what's really in the center of our lives) are often very good things: job, work, accomplishments, reputation, service, ministry, achievements, hobbies, exercise, even family activities. But Jesus was pretty direct in saying that when anything takes precedence over our affection for him (one thing), we have made that thing the center of our lives—a spot that was designed only for him to occupy. So the questions I am left to answer regularly are: What occupies most of my time and energy and focus these days? What is my one thing right now? And what does it really look like to hold Jesus as my first and truest affection? The answer to these questions can give me a pretty good idea about whether my life, and my affections, are properly ordered.
Prayer
Closing Prayer: Jesus, be my one thing. Today and every day. Amen.
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