A Devotion from George Truett

One thing I do.  —Philippians 3:13

The first element [in the secret of Paul’s incomparable life] is the element of wholehearted concentration.28 “One thing I do”—not a dozen things, not even two things, but this one thing I do. No life can be very great or very happy or very useful without this element of concentration. Decision is energy, and energy is power, and power is confidence, and confidence to a remarkable degree contributes to success. Turn to any realm that you will, and the vital meaning of concentration stands out in all human life in the most striking fashion.

Take the business world. [Its] very watchwords magnify this element of concentration—specialization and consolidation and incorporation. The day for the jack-of-all-trades has passed. An individual must do one thing and do it with all his or her might. The day of the specialist has come.

When we look at the notable scientists, that truth of concentration seems to be written in their lives as with letters of living fire. Edison concentrated his energies in the realm of electricity and was constantly surprising the world by his marvelous discoveries.

When we come to the realm religious—this element of concentration there holds sway just as in these other realms. No one can serve two masters. Jesus stands above all humanity and says, “If you would be my disciple, I must come before father or mother or the dearest loved one of your life. I must come before your own business or your own property. I must come before your own life.”

Many a Christian follows Christ afar off and limps and grovels in the Christian life, seeking to adjust in life to giving Christ some secondary place, and Christ will not have it. Concentration is a prime requisite in the victorious life anywhere.

28 George W. Truett, “The Threefold Secret of a Great Life,” in Classic Sermons on the Apostle Paul, comp. Warren W. Wiersbe (Grand Rapids: Kregel, 1996), 127–29.