One Thing Is Necessary

I recently came across a study put out by the Pew Research Center in 2006. In the study Americans were asked to choose which items from a list of several things were considered a necessity in their lives. The results are in the table below:

In ten years time many things that used to be considered a luxury in American homes have now become a necessity.

During a visit to the house of Mary and Martha Jesus also mentioned what he considered as necessary. Because Jesus was visiting, Martha was applying herself to serving Jesus, and the many other guests that most likely accompanied him. Mary on the other hand was only concerned with listening and learning from Jesus which left Martha alone to serve, and made her a little angry. Martha took her complaint directly to Jesus, to which he replied Martha, Martha, you are anxious and troubled about many things, but one thing is necessary. Mary has chosen the good portion, which will not be taken away from her. (Lk. 10:41-42).

What is necessary in your life? In one sense many things are necessary. Cable television may be necessary in order to watch certain television shows. An air conditioner is necessary if the goal is to stay cool. These days a computer is a necessity for many jobs. I am often told that what I do in the Business office is a necessity, and it is true in many ways.

In short many different things are necessary depending on what it is we intend to accomplish. But what if you remove all qualifiers and just ask what is necessary? Then there remains only one thing, the submission of your life to Jesus.

How many things are necessary in your life? As Americans we can have a tendency to accumulate a large list of necessities. Every once in a while it is a good practice to look over the list of things that we have made a necessity in our lives and trim it down a little, because in the end there is only one thing that is really necessary.