"There is one God who is the Father of all people. Not only is God above all others, but he works by using all of us, and he lives in all of us.” Ephesians 4:6

When I found out the theme for this year’s devotional is “The One,” my mind quickly went to “one” in famous quotes. “One is the loneliest number,” for example. Or “You’re the one that I want,” (sung by John Travolta and Olivia Newton-John, of course).
   But my favorite quote about “the one” comes from a 1991 movie called City Slickers. Three Yuppie men go on a cattle drive because they’re dissatisfied, for a variety of reasons, with their lives. They spend time being led by an old cowboy (Curly) who has the following conversation (slightly edited) with Billy Crystal’s character (Mitch).

Curly: “Do you know what the secret of life is? (points his index finger to the sky) This.”
Mitch: “Your finger?”
Curly: “One thing. Just one thing. You stick to THAT, and the rest don’t mean anything.” 
Mitch: “But, what is the ‘one thing’”? 
Curly: (smiling and pointing his finger at Mitch) “That’s what you have to find out.” 

   The idea that my “one thing” could be entirely different from anyone else’s, and that I had to figure out what it was, gave me a lot to think about when I first saw this movie. It came out the year I had my first child, so there was a lot of introspection going on in my world already. I was determined to know what my “one thing” was before I saw the movie again, but each time I’ve seen it (many times) I still struggle with that idea.
   Over the years since then, my faith has grown. And I believe that for me, with God’s help, I’ve finally figured out that the “one thing” for me is love. Pure and simple, but not always easy. Love for the one who made me, the one who died for me, the one who is with me all the time—guiding me each day if I’m paying attention. Love for myself (not always easy), love for friends and family, and love for those who challenge me or make me want to run away. 
   The verse above reminds me that He is using me for His purposes, and I’m sure that no matter what I’m supposed to be doing with my remaining days—He would want me to do it with love. His kind of love, that I can only aspire to. He sent His one son, and that was enough. He gives us one life, and we must live it for Him. 
    As I get older and travel more of the world, seeing other societies with other religions, I often wonder if we’re all worshiping the same One, with different names and man-made stories to explain it all. Maybe our differences are just that we are each chosen by the One to live a specific life—although some choose to believe there’s not any Lord at all. Obviously, we can’t know the answers to these questions until we’re given the ultimate in grace and get to be by His side. And maybe by then, the answers won’t matter. We’ll be able to love the way He always intended, and worship Him in person as the true One. 
   For me, Advent and Christmas are a beautiful reminder of the One that sent His only Son, and the Son who offered His one human life for us. What an amazing gift that transcends all holidays!