The Power of One
In our impersonal, overcrowded world, it is very easy to undervalue the power of one. Have you ever wondered if your voice, your input, your stand, your action makes a difference? It’s easy to think that everyone else is more capable, more gifted, and more important than you.
Think about it:
How many sheep were lost and became the object of concern to the shepherd? One.
How many women were willing to put their life on the line in order to stop the genocide of all Jews? One.
How many were chosen by God to confront a world leader like Pharaoh who wanted to keep the 430-year bondage of God’s people going? One.
How many did it take to assist the victim who got robbed on the road to Jericho? One.
How many did God use to eternally solve the sin problem that justly condemns the world to eternal death? One.
Notice…one man or woman—only one voice or action---made a significant difference.
Are you and I willing to make a difference with our voice, our time, our service, our sacrifice, our compassion, our love, our grace, our forgiveness, our patience, our boldness, our encouragement, our confrontation?
Aren’t you glad God rejoices in the one sinner who repents, that Esther was willing to say “if I perish, I perish,” that Moses was willing to tell Pharaoh, “Let my people go,” that a Samaritan compassionately got care for someone he didn’t know, but most of all to think that God willingly gave His only blameless Son over to a sacrificial death in order to spare undeserving sinners like you and me?
I remember reading the following about the power of just one vote:
In 1645, one vote gave Oliver Cromwell control of England.
In 1649, one vote cost King Charles 1 of England his throne and his head.
In 1776, one vote gave American the English language instead of German.
In 1801, one vote elected Thomas Jefferson into the House of Representatives after a tie in the Electoral College.
In 1845, one vote brought the state of Texas into the union.
In 1868, one vote saved President Andrew Johnson from impeachment.
In 1875, one vote changed France from a monarchy to a republic.
In 1941, one vote saved the Selective Service System just twelve weeks before Pearl Harbor was attacked.
In 1923, one vote gave Adolph Hitler control of the Nazi Party.
Never underestimate the power of your one word, one prayer, one vote, or one action. What you do and say truly matters. This verse has always grabbed my attention when thinking about the one: “I searched for a man among them who would build up the wall and stand in the gap before Me for the land, so that I would not destroy it; but I found no one.” (Ezekiel 22:30) Will you and I be that one?
Pastor Jeff
“The primitive church thought more about the Second Coming of Jesus Christ than about death or about heaven. The early Christians were looking not for a cleft in the ground called a grave but for a cleavage in the sky called Glory. They were watching not for the undertaker but for the uppertaker.
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