One Problem in Dallas

 

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very morning on the way to work, I listen to the traffic report.  This should come as no surprise to anyone confronted with the challenges of a daily commute along an Interstate.  There are always three or four major projects underway in the Dallas/Fort Worth area and sometimes these construction projects can directly impact my daily drive to work. 

 

One particular morning, the traffic report was unusually brief with no problems or accidents in the immediate area and only one problem in Dallas.  Now this gave me cause to pinch myself just to ensure I was awake.  There is no good time to drive to Dallas and traffic jams, accidents, and delays are common fare.  Rarely, if ever, is there simply “one problem” on the highways and byways of Dallas.  This morning, however, was an exception. 

 

The one problem involved a stalled vehicle that was blocking one lane of a very busy artery leading into the city.  But apart from a few minutes’ delay, traffic was moving along quite smoothly.  Had it not been for that “one problem” the morning’s commute into downtown Dallas would have been perfect, with nothing to hinder quick and direct access to the city. 

 

I turned off the radio and thought intently about what I had just heard.  Only one problem in Dallas, and yet there was a problem and that problem prevented and impeded the normal passage of traffic.  Life is like that, isn’t it? All seems to be going well except for “one problem.” 

 

Would it surprise you to learn that this traffic report could have been given in Jesus’ day?  In fact, the same report was given to a man who asked Jesus a very important question.  Let’s take a closer look at this passage to see just where this “one problem” presented itself. 

 

In Mark 10:21, we read, “Jesus looked at him and loved him. "One thing you lack," he said. "Go, sell everything you have and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven. Then come, follow me."  

 

In this passage, Jesus responds to the question of the rich young ruler, who wanted to know what he had to do to obtain eternal life.  Jesus told him to obey the law.  In response, the young man stated he had kept the law at all points.  That’s when Jesus made this statement. 

 

Notice the beginning of this passage.  The Scriptures say that Jesus looked and loved this man.  Only in Mark’s gospel is this recorded. It was out of love for him that Jesus pointed out the “one problem” in his life.  Something was missing, impeding and preventing this man from being whole.  Jesus told him to sell what he had, to give to the poor, and to become one of Jesus’ followers.  The one problem was not the man’s money; rather it was what the money represented.  It was the one thing he found difficult to surrender.  It was the roadblock, the stalled car in the highway that kept the power of God from freely flowing through his life. 

 

The ensuing verses tell us that the man went away sad because he was very rich. Sound familiar?  Each of us has at least “one thing, one problem” that God point out to us.  It may seem insignificant to others but to us it is extremely important.  It is this one thing that God requires of us so that his love can flow freely through us. Whatever it is, until we surrender it, it will be a constant roadblock, keeping us from serving God fully. What does the traffic report of your life look like today?  Remember, only one problem in Dallas still means that there is something in the way.  What is that one thing in your life today?