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"THE POWER OF ONE"
"Then as one man's trespass led to condemnation for
all men, so one man's act of righteousness leads to
acquittal and life for all men. For as by one man's
disobedience many were made sinners, so by one man's
obedience many will be made righteous." (Romans 5:
18-19)
"Oh, that there were one among you who would shut
the doors, that you might not kindle fire upon my
altar in vain!" (Malachi 1: 10a)
Last week we sat in another little country church in
Guatemala, where, for different reasons, only the
pastor showed up to worship God. One man. His wife
has all but abandoned her faith. So many of
his sons and other church members have turned their
backs on their families and on the Lord. Things seem
to be falling apart there as so many let their
apathy and concerns for money outweigh their
service to God. At times he is all alone in his
unwavering faith in Jesus. As a little group
of six of us began to sing and worship together
there in Pavitzalan, Pastor Genero Lucas had a smile
on his face. He joked about being all alone at
times in his desire to walk in the ways of Christ.
"Hasta la muerte!" he said. (Until the death!)
"It goes farther than that", I assured him. "Hasta
la Vida!" (To the life everlasting!)
Yes, one is truly a powerful
number. I happen to know that God likes it a
lot. Down through history, when His servants
have stood alone, He has always smiled upon them.
We see examples of God's working from the prophet
Elijah (remember Mount Carmel?) to God's only Son,
our Lord Jesus. Unlike ourselves, our Father has
always known the true worth of the number "one".
A faithful "one" beats 7 billion by more than a
country mile. By one man (Adam) sin was
brought into the world but by one Man, Jesus, our
sin debt was settled so that we could be truly free.
One is such a big number! Such a glorious
number!
Perhaps God is calling you and me
to re-learn our numbers today. For too long, we have
been dazzled with the big numbers, so much so, that
we have forgotten to notice the simple beauty of the
little numbers. Perhaps the numbers in your
life are closer to "one" and you have thought
yourself a failure. Think again! "Oh
that there were one...!" the Lord said to Malachi.
The trick is to be that "one". What changes
will God bring into this old world with time if one
man or one woman will only hold the course and see
their work to the end? (Hasta la muerte!) We
don't know yet, do we? But, I
believe that when it is all said and done, we are
going to see that one is indeed a beautiful number,
a truly extraordinary number...if it is wholly given
over to God's purposes.
My challenge to you this week is
to be the "One". Be the one to make a
difference for God. Where He has placed you.
With the tasks that He has given you. Be the
One that He has made you to be and trust the
resulting numbers to Him, and to His timing.
Oh, at the changes that He could bring in our
world...all from the power of a faithful "one."
Do you believe this? This is not fuzzy math;
this is the Gospel. Oh, a million is a good
number, too, but the number one is so unique, so
life-changing. There is truly nothing just like
it. May God bless all His "ones" this week, in all
the lonely places of the world where they are making
a difference. An eternal difference...
Press on!
Make a plan to make a difference this week
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