In Psalm 84:10, the psalmist, King David, wrote,
Better is one day in your courts than a thousand elsewhere.
I would rather be a doorkeeper in the house of my God than dwell in the tents of the wicked.
The picture here is that just a moment with the Lord is better than an abundance of time anywhere else with anyone else, and that it is better to be a lowly doorkeeper in the house of God than to fully dwell in the tents of the wicked.
This has been the inspiration of songs and teaching themes celebrating our Great Creator God, His Son Jesus Christ, and God’s presence in His Spirit from years gone by right up until today: Better is One Day.
Interestingly enough, I am currently using this passage as a foundation and theme with our Men’s Ministry on Wednesday nights and with several early morning Men’s Bible studies and discipleship groups. And it is not lost on me that we are not only pursuing God’s Best for our lives generally, but that we are also in a time of journeying to a “One Day,’ a very special and consecrated, set-aside day we call Easter, where we especially celebrate Jesus’ death, burial, and resurrection.
In August of 1973, I personally had a One Day encounter with Jesus that was totally unexpected and completely due to those very special days when we especially honor Christ’s passion, Easter. I grew up in a home full of love, hard work, bill paying, and discipline, but there was no God, Bible, Jesus, or Church. In 1972, I followed a pretty girl and some friends into a church in Memphis and struggled for a long time not to be affected by the biblical message there while holding to my same old lifestyle. I succeeded for a year or more, but the reality of those young men and women’s relationship with Jesus and their faith in the truth of the Bible had a powerful effect on me. Then, one day, August 19, 1973, in a worship service, I got honest with myself and in a time that was designated for response to the message, I made my way out of the church pew and to the front of the room to meet the preacher. He asked me why I had come, and I told him all I knew to say. I said, I just want my life to be like theirs, and I pointed at my friends. He tried to help me understand what I was unable to say and told me I needed to pray. I told him that I had never done that and didn’t know how. He said he would say some words in my ear to help me, but that I should not say them to God if I didn’t really mean them. I said, Thank you God for loving me, and that I knew I had lived my way instead of His way. I thanked God for Jesus and Him taking the consequences for my sin on Himself, and I told the Lord that I wanted Jesus to be Lord, the boss, of my life for the rest of my life. That has now been true for 52 years, all because of “One Day.”
The words of the old hymn, One Day, sum it all up nicely.
One day when heaven was filled with His praises,
One day when sin was as dark as could be,
Jesus came forth to be born of a virgin,
Dwelt among men, my example is He!
One day they led Him up Calvary’s mountain,
One day they nailed Him to die on the tree;
Suffering anguish, despised and rejected,
Bearing our sins, my Redeemer is He!
One day they left Him alone in the garden,
One day He rested, from suffering free;
Angels came down o’er His tomb to keep vigil;
Hope of the hopeless, my Savior is He!
One day the grave could conceal Him no longer,
One day the stone rolled away from the door;
Then He arose, over death He had conquered,
Now is ascended, my Lord ever more!
One day the trumpet will sound for His coming,
One day the skies with His glory will shine;
Wonderful day, my beloved ones bringing;
Glorious Savior, this Jesus is mine!
Refrain after each verse
Living, He loved me; dying, He saved me;
Buried, He carried my sins far away;
Rising, He justified freely, forever;
One day He’s coming: O glorious day!
Jesus can do more in One Day than we can in a lifetime. Please find a Bible-believing, Jesus-preaching church this week and start your journey to One Day with Christ. Easter is coming, but we celebrate Jesus’ sacrifice and perfect provision every week. I am praying for your “One Day.”
