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Matthew 19:16-26 (The Message)

“Another day, a man stopped Jesus and asked, ‘Teacher, what good thing must I do

to get eternal life?’

“Jesus said, ‘Why do you question me about what's good? God is the One who is

good. If you want to enter the life of God, just do what he tells you.’

“The man asked, ‘What in particular?’

“Jesus said, ‘Don't murder, don't commit adultery, don't steal, don't lie, honor your

father and mother, and love your neighbor as you do yourself.’

“The young man said, ‘I've done all that. What's left?’

“‘If you want to give it all you've got,’ Jesus replied, ‘go sell your possessions; give

everything to the poor. All your wealth will then be in heaven. Then come follow

me.’

“That was the last thing the young man expected to hear. And so, crest-fallen, he

walked away. He was holding on tight to a lot of things, and he couldn't bear to let

go.

“As he watched him go, Jesus told his disciples, ‘Do you have any idea how difficult

it is for the rich to enter God's kingdom? Let me tell you, it's easier to gallop a

camel through a needle's eye than for the rich to enter God's kingdom.’

“The disciples were staggered. ‘Then who has any chance at all?’

“Jesus looked hard at them and said, ‘No chance at all if you think you can pull it

off yourself. Every chance in the world if you trust God to do it.’”

THE ONE THING In a scene from the movie City Slickers, the cagey old cowboy teaches three

wanna-be cowboys a lesson on the meaning of life. In the evening during a cattle

Sabbath Afternoon | Today’s Reading

Fasting, Purity, and Simplicity | Lesson 7 | November 13, 2010

The One Thing

drive, the dudes—three city slickers—sit around a campfire with their rugged and

antisocial trail guide. They recognize that the survival of the herd and their own

well-being depends on the cowboy’s skill, judgment, and efforts to contend with the

unpredictable elements of the environment.

Billy Crystal, playing one of the city boys, turns to the old wrinkled cowhand. “You

seem to be at peace with yourself and confident that there isn’t anything you can’t

handle. How can I get where you are at?”

The old cowhand thinks for a moment and replies, “It’s just one thing.”

Billy Crystal inquires, “What is that?” referring to the single finger the old cowboy

points in the air.

“That’s the secret!” the old cowboy says, peering into Crystal’s eyes.

Billy Crystal inquires further. “What’s the one thing?”

Still holding up one finger, the cowboy advises, “Well that’s up to you. But to have

a sense of purpose and develop confidence in their capabilities, a person must

pursue—just one thing.”

Our job is to figure out what that “one thing” actually is. For the rich young ruler

who came to Jesus, it was his possessions, or more likely the status that came with

those possessions. But if we are honest with ourselves, we all have one thing that

is really central to our lives that we really could not part with.

The point of the movie is about coming to the place where you know what your life

is about. For Billy Crystal’s character, it turns out to be his love for his family. If

you had to strip your life down to the most important thing, what would be your

“one thing”?

1. What does the movie City Slickers and the story of the rich young ruler have

in common?

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2. What “one thing” gets in your way of making Jesus first?

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3. Is it hopeless? Can we ever learn to let go and make Jesus first? Explain.

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Thoughts from the Mount of Blessing, p. 91

“Singleness of purpose, wholehearted devotion to God, is the condition pointed out

by the Saviour's words. Let the purpose be sincere and unwavering to discern the

truth and to obey it at whatever cost, and you will receive divine enlightenment.

Real piety begins when all compromise with sin is at an end. Then the language of

the heart will be that of the apostle Paul: ‘This one thing I do, forgetting those

things which are behind, and reaching forth unto those things which are before, I

press toward the mark for the prize of the high calling of God in Christ Jesus.’ ‘I

count all things but loss for the excellency of the knowledge of Christ Jesus my

Lord: for whom I have suffered the loss of all things, and do count them but dung,

that I may win Christ.’ Philippians 3:13, 14, 8.”

Highlight the sentence that states, “Let the purpose be sincere . . .”

Philippians 3:13, 14 (Contemporary English Version)

“My friends, I don't feel that I have already arrived. But I forget what is behind,

and I struggle for what is ahead. I run toward the goal, so that I can win the prize

Sunday | Today’s Reading

of being called to heaven. This is the prize that God offers because of what Christ

Jesus has done.”

This Day with God, p. 374

“‘One thing I do.’ Paul allowed nothing to divert him from the one great purpose of

his life. . . . In the busy activities of life, he never lost sight of his one great

purpose—to press on toward the prize of his high calling.”

HERE’S WHAT I THINK

Kelly loves to read novels, and she sometimes loses track of time. Many times, it is

a way for her to escape. Her mother noticed that her time with reading was

increasing and commented, “Kelly, you have been reading a lot lately. Why don’t

you try taking a break and doing something different?”

Kelly stiffened and replied, “Maybe later.” But she did think about how much time

she was spending on her hobby and how little time she spent with God. Still, her

books were more enjoyable than “quiet time with God.” That hadn’t been true in

her life before, and she wondered how she might return to a more meaningful

relationship with God.

If she came to you about “getting focused,” how would you encourage her to focus

her life on the “one thing” in a way that was helpful and joyful?

Go to http://guidemagazine.org/rtf to post your answers. Your thoughts and

feelings may seem clearer to you when you write them down, so we’ve provided

space for you here as well. You may also wish to share them with your class later.

Be up-front and honest.

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Today’s Reading is long. It contains stories from several different places in the

Bible. These stories show different ways to fast. When you have finished with

“Today’s Reading” there will be lines for you to make a list of the different ways the

Bible discusses fasting.

Matthew 6:16, 17 (Contemporary English Version)

“‘When you go without eating, don't try to look gloomy as those show-offs do when

they go without eating. I can assure you that they already have their reward.

Instead, comb your hair and wash your face.’”

Luke 5:32-34 (New King James Version)

“‘I have not come to call the righteous, but sinners, to repentance.’

“Then they said to Him, ‘Why do the disciples of John fast often and make prayers,

and likewise those of the Pharisees, but Yours eat and drink?’

“And He said to them, ‘Can you make the friends of the bridegroom fast while the

bridegroom is with them?’”

Isaiah 58: 1-5 (The Message)

“‘Shout! A full-throated shout! Hold nothing back—a trumpet-blast shout!

Tell my people what's wrong with their lives,

face my family Jacob with their sins!

They're busy, busy, busy at worship,

and love studying all about me.

To all appearances they're a nation of right-living people—

law-abiding, God-honoring.

They ask me, “What's the right thing to do?”

and love having me on their side.

Monday | Today’s Reading

But they also complain,

“Why do we fast and you don't look our way?

Why do we humble ourselves and you don't even notice?”

“‘Well, here's why:

‘The bottom line on your “fast days” is profit.

You drive your employees much too hard.

You fast, but at the same time you bicker and fight.

You fast, but you swing a mean fist.

The kind of fasting you do

won't get your prayers off the ground.

Do you think this is the kind of fast day I'm after:

a day to show off humility?

To put on a pious long face

and parade around solemnly in black?

Do you call that fasting,

a fast day that I, God, would like?”’”

Daniel 1:11-16 (The Message)

“But Daniel appealed to a steward who had been assigned by the head of the

palace staff to be in charge of Daniel, Hananiah, Mishael, and Azariah: ‘Try us out

for ten days on a simple diet of vegetables and water. Then compare us with the

young men who eat from the royal menu. Make your decision on the basis of what

you see.’

“The steward agreed to do it and fed them vegetables and water for ten days. At

the end of the ten days they looked better and more robust than all the others who

had been eating from the royal menu. So the steward continued to exempt them

from the royal menu of food and drink and served them only vegetables.”

Daniel 6:17-19 (New King James Version)

“Then a stone was brought and laid on the mouth of the den, and the king sealed it

with his own signet ring and with the signets of his lords, that the purpose

concerning Daniel might not be changed.

“Now the king went to his palace and spent the night fasting; and no musicians

were brought before him. Also his sleep went from him. Then the king arose very

early in the morning and went in haste to the den of lions.”

1. How should we fast?

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2. Does fasting always mean that we don’t eat?

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3. What is the purpose of fasting?

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4. What should we be able to accomplish from fasting?

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Thoughts from the Mount of Blessing, pp. 91, 92 “‘If . . . thine eye be single, thy whole

body shall be full of light.’

Matthew 6:22.

“Singleness of purpose, wholehearted devotion to God, is the condition pointed out

by the Saviour's words. Let the purpose be sincere and unwavering to discern the

truth and to obey it at whatever cost, and you will receive divine enlightenment.

Real piety begins when all compromise with sin is at an end. Then the language of

the heart will be that of the apostle Paul: ‘This one thing I do, forgetting those

things which are behind, and reaching forth unto those things which are before, I

press toward the mark for the prize of the high calling of God in Christ Jesus.’ ‘I

count all things but loss for the excellency of the knowledge of Christ Jesus my

Lord: for whom I have suffered the loss of all things, and do count them but dung,

that I may win Christ.’ Philippians 3:13, 14, 8.

“But when the eye is blinded by the love of self, there is only darkness. ‘If thine eye

be evil, thy whole body shall be full of darkness.’ It was this fearful darkness that

Tuesday | Today’s Reading

wrapped the Jews in stubborn unbelief, making it impossible for them to appreciate

the character and mission of Him who came to save them from their sins.

“Yielding to temptation begins in permitting the mind to waver, to be inconstant in

your trust in God. If we do not choose to give ourselves fully to God then we are in

darkness. When we make any reserve we are leaving open a door through which

Satan can enter to lead us astray by his temptations. He knows that if he can

obscure our vision, so that the eye of faith cannot see God, there will be no barrier

against sin.”

Highlight the sentence that begins, “When we make any reserve . . .”

Psalm 27:4 (The Message) “I'm asking God for one thing,

only one thing:

To live with him in his house

my whole life long.

I'll contemplate his beauty;

I'll study at his feet.”

SO WHAT? There is a postcard that shows the final exam in a dog-training exercise.

Approximately 15 German shepherds are lined up in a sitting position along an

open walkway. Walking before the line of brave candidates is a black-and-white cat

sauntering along the line of dogs, seemingly unaffected by the dangerous scenario

that could easily shorten its life. Imagine the focus, the discipline, the single-

mindedness of those canines.

Fasting isn’t required for your ticket to heaven. Fasters do not earn more points on

their spiritual scorecard or more jewels in their crown. In truth, fasting is for those

who struggle with staying focused. It is for those who desperately wrestle with

keeping God a priority in their lives. Some people can’t work with clutter; they have

to clean their room or their office in order to be able to work effectively.

Fasting is about clearing the clutter from your spiritual life. Fast from TV if it gets in

the way of your walk with God. Take a day or two away from the Internet if you

spend more time chatting than you do in conversation with the Savior. Take a

break from sports or shopping or junk food. Find something that has a way of

getting in the way—even if it is a good thing—and abstain from it while putting your

focus on Christ. Most of all, fasting is about our hearts being bent on seeking the

“One Thing.”

1. Is being focused a universal problem, or do just a few people struggle with

being focused?

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2. Can you become focused on God all by yourself?

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Match the phrase with the text.

A. “Whatever you have learned or received or heard from me . . .”

B. “Therefore, holy brothers, who share in the heavenly calling, fix your

thoughts on Jesus . . .”

C. “Religion that God our Father accepts as pure and faultless is this . . .”

D. “Don’t let anyone look down on you because you are young . . .”

E. “‘When you fast, do not look somber . . .’”

1. Philippians 4:8, 9 (NIV) _____

2. James 1:27 (NIV) _____

3. Hebrews 3:1 (NIV) _____

4. Matthew 6:16-18 (NIV) _____

5. 1 Timothy 4:12 (NIV) _____

Wednesday | Today’s Reading

Thoughts from the Mount of Blessing, p. 92

“The same law obtains in the spiritual as in the natural world. He who abides in

darkness will at last lose the power of vision. He is shut in by a deeper than

midnight blackness; and to him the brightest noontide can bring no light. He

‘walketh in darkness, and knoweth not whither he goeth, because that darkness

hath blinded his eyes.’ 1 John 2:11. Through persistently cherishing evil, willfully

disregarding the pleadings of divine love, the sinner loses the love for good, the

desire for God, the very capacity to receive the light of heaven. The invitation of

mercy is still full of love, the light is shining as brightly as when it first dawned

upon his soul; but the voice falls on deaf ears, the light on blinded eyes.

Highlight the sentence that states, “The invitation of mercy is still full of love . . .”

Conflict and Courage, p. 304

“The ‘one thing’ that Martha needed was a calm, devotional spirit, a deeper anxiety

for knowledge concerning the future, immortal life, and the graces necessary for

spiritual advancement. She needed less anxiety for the things which pass away,

and more for those things which endure forever. Jesus would teach His children to

seize every opportunity of gaining that knowledge which will make them wise unto

salvation. The cause of Christ needs careful, energetic workers. There is a wide

field for the Marthas, with their zeal in active religious work. But let them first sit

with Mary at the feet of Jesus. Let diligence, promptness, and energy be sanctified

by the grace of Christ; then the life will be an unconquerable power for good.

“The reason why the youth, and even those of mature years, are so easily led into

temptation and sin, is that they do not study the word of God and meditate upon it

as they should. The lack of firm, decided will power, which is manifest in life and

character, results from neglect of the sacred instruction of God's Word. They do not

by earnest effort direct the mind to that which would inspire pure, holy thought and

divert it from that which is impure and untrue. There are few who choose the better

part, who sit at the feet of Jesus, as did Mary, to learn of the divine Teacher. Few

treasure His words in the heart and practice them in the life.”

WHAT DOES THIS HAVE TO DO WITH ME? If you were to think about the “one thing” that Jesus was about, what would that

be? It was always related to trying to shape the perceptions people had about God.

Thursday | Today’s Reading

But sometimes the one thing for Jesus was simply putting an end to someone’s

pain. There are times when Jesus was passionate about fasting, and He did it all

day long. Other times, Jesus had one thing in mind, and that was to get away and

just be alone with the Father.

But of all the “one things” in the heart of Christ, securing eternity for you was the

number one object. Nothing, absolutely nothing, got in the way of His making a

way for you to be with Him eternally. Max Lucado said it well when he noted that

God could bear your sin more easily that He could bear the thought of being

without you for eternity.

Single-minded? Focused? You better believe it! And if Jesus were filling out the

student lesson this week, your name would be listed as the “one thing.” Make no

mistake about what you mean to God. As you do that, Jesus will teach you step by

step what it means to make Him the “one thing” in your life.

Thoughts from the Mount of Blessing, p. 93

“No soul is ever finally deserted of God, given up to his own ways, so long as there

is any hope of his salvation. "Man turns from God, not God from him." Our

heavenly Father follows us with appeals and warnings and assurances of

compassion, until further opportunities and privileges would be wholly in vain. The

responsibility rests with the sinner. By resisting the Spirit of God today, he prepares

the way for a second resistance of light when it comes with mightier power. Thus

he passes on from one stage of resistance to another, until at last the light will fail

to impress, and he will cease to respond in any measure to the Spirit of God. Then

even "the light that is in thee" has become darkness. The very truth we do know

has become so perverted as to increase the blindness of the soul.”

Highlight the sentence that states, “No soul is ever finally deserted of God . . .”

Genesis 22 (Contemporary English Version)

“Some years later God decided to test Abraham, so he spoke to him.

“Abraham answered, ‘Here I am, Lord.’

“The Lord said, ‘Go get Isaac, your only son, the one you dearly love! Take him to

the land of Moriah, and I will show you a mountain where you must sacrifice him to

me on the fires of an altar.’ So Abraham got up early the next morning and

chopped wood for the fire. He put a saddle on his donkey and left with Isaac and

Friday | Today’s Reading

two servants for the place where God had told him to go.

“Three days later Abraham looked off in the distance and saw the place. He told his

servants, ‘Stay here with the donkey, while my son and I go over there to worship.

We will come back.’

“Abraham put the wood on Isaac's shoulder, but he carried the hot coals and the

knife. As the two of them walked along, Isaac said, ‘Father, we have the coals and

the wood, but where is the lamb for the sacrifice?’

“‘My son,’ Abraham answered, ‘God will provide the lamb.’

“The two of them walked on, and when they reached the place that God had told

him about, Abraham built an altar and placed the wood on it. Next, he tied up his

son and put him on the wood. He then took the knife and got ready to kill his son.

But the Lord's angel shouted from heaven, ‘Abraham! Abraham!’

“‘Here I am!’ he answered.

“‘Don't hurt the boy or harm him in any way!’ the angel said. ‘Now I know that you

truly obey God, because you were willing to offer him your only son.’

“Abraham looked up and saw a ram caught by its horns in the bushes. So he took

the ram and sacrificed it in place of his son.

“Abraham named that place ‘The Lord Will Provide.’ And even now people say, ‘On

the mountain of the Lord it will be provided.’ Lord's angel called out from heaven a

second time:

“‘You were willing to offer the Lord your only son, and so he makes you this solemn

promise, “I will bless you and give you such a large family, that someday your

descendants will be more numerous than the stars in the sky or the grains of sand

along the beach. They will defeat their enemies and take over the cities where their

enemies live. You have obeyed me, and so you and your descendants will be a

blessing to all nations on earth.”’”

1. How much did Abraham surrender to God?

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2. Did God test him? _____________________________________________________________

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3. Does God sometimes test us in order to teach us and bring us closer to Him?

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4. Will God testing us help us learn to focus on Him?

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HOW DOES IT WORK?

Think of three areas of your life in which you could fast this week. For each area,

identify the one thing you want to focus on (prayer life with God, the ability to

serve others, Bible study, quiet communion, self-control, and put it on the line

under the Number 1. This is the “one thing” you want to be about for that period of

time. You will also notice the other spaces around number 1—these are for the

things that get in the way or that you might want to refrain from as you focus on

the “one thing”.

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__________ 1 ________

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__________ 1 ________

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__________ 1 ________

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