Read Luke 15:11-14
It’s in TV commercials. It’s on billboards. It’s right there in all of our social media interactions. We are told on a daily basis that there is a better life waiting for us. All we have to do is pay for it. The prodigal son believed happiness was waiting for him in a distant land. He took his inheritance and left his father’s house to try and find it. Eventually he ran out of money, and his dreams came crashing to a halt.
We all engage in the lie of the one thing. We tell ourselves that if we had this one specific thing, then everything would be ok. The one thing could be a job or a material object we want, like a house or a new car. It can even be a change in our physical appearance or a relationship we feel we are missing. The point is these things keep our focus away from God. Instead, we focus on what is temporary. In reality, as soon as we get that one thing we always find something else that becomes the next one thing. And just like the prodigal son, we end up distancing ourselves further and further away from our Father.
Our actions may not be as drastic as the prodigal son demanding his inheritance and then leaving home, but the outcome is the same. God offers us a true inheritance and we continually waste it in favor of other pursuits that we feel will complete us. Our lives are filled with little choices that can take us closer to or further away from our Father.
Have you ever gotten caught up in the “lie of the one thing”?
What distracts you from God’s presence?
Day 2 of 7 from the 2017 Mission Discovery Devotional
