Looking back in the rear-view mirror of my life, I recall one conversation with my junior hockey
coach that truly impacted me. His name was Bert Templeton. I had a love-hate relationship with
Coach. I hated him, because he demanded so much from me and I loved him, because he
demanded so much from me. After practice one day, he pulled me aside and asked me a simple
question, “Do you want to play in the NHL?” I remember thinking, “Do I really need to answer
that question? Of course I do!” He said, “If you want to play in the NHL, you have to do ONE
thing better than anyone else.” I immediately started taking inventory of my abilities as a hockey
player: Am I the best skater, NO. The best puck handler, NO. The best offensively, NO. The
best defensively, NO. Panic started to set in. I didn’t do any one thing better than anyone else!
And then it hit me, I was pretty good at everything. That would be my ONE thing! Who would
have guessed being average in all aspects of the game could carve out a fourteen-year NHL
career? But it did. It was my ONE thing. What’s your ONE thing? In Matthew 22, Jesus defines
our ONE thing. There were 613 Jewish laws to observe in the Old Testament: 365 negative
commands, “Thou shall nots,” and 248 positive commands, “Thou shalls.” When asked which
was the greatest commandment, Jesus boiled it all down to ONE thing:
“Teacher, which is the great commandment in the Law?” And he said to him, “You shall
love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.
This is the great and first commandment. And a second is like it: You shall love your
neighbor as yourself. On these two commandments depend all the Law and the
Prophets.” (Matthew 22:36-40 ESV)
Basically, Jesus boils down the entire Bible to ONE thing, love. It’s our ONE thing. Loving God
and loving people is the Christian’s superpower that we can use to win in life. The Apostle Paul
loved the church in Philippi. He “birthed” it through much pain and suffering and desperately
wanted to see this church thrive. Look at how Paul prays:
“And it is my prayer that your love may abound more and more.” (Philippians 1:9 ESV)
Isn’t that interesting? He doesn’t pray that their theology would abound more and more. He
doesn’t pray that their Bible reading or prayer time would abound more and more. He prays that
their love would abound more and more. Paul knew, if you get the love part right, everything
else will fall into place. If you get the love part right, then Bible reading, prayer, obedience will
result from the overflow of that love. It’s the ONE thing that impacts EVERYTHING.
“Love God and do whatever you please: for the soul trained in love to God will do nothing to
offend the One who is Beloved.” —St. Augustine