The late Steve Jobs, founder of Apple Inc, introduced in 2007 a device that disrupted the technology sector. At a packed room summit inside Apple’s Palo Alto, CA headquarters, where it premiered a plethora of new products to an engaged audience — I certainly was — Jobs said, “This is a day I’ve been looking forward to for two and a half years. Every once in a while, a revolutionary product comes along that changes everything.”
Pointing to a huge projection screen, he presented individual slides of a widescreen iPod with touch controls, a revolutionary mobile phone, and a breakthrough internet communications device. Each product slide featured a unique icon. The crowd is now even more intrigued. The next screen had all three icons side by side.
With a sly smile on his face, Jobs reiterated, “An iPod, a phone, and an internet communicator.” Then, the icons spun around and joined together. “An iPod, a phone, are you getting it?” he asked as raucous laughter and applause filled the auditorium. “These are not three separate devices! This is one device, and we are calling it iPhone.” From that time on, audiences knew whenever they heard Jobs utter his now iconic catchphrase “there’s just one more thing” at an Apple keynote address, something significant was on the other side.
Reflecting on Jobs’s historic announcement, I think of the line from the classic song by the group Three Dog Night, “One is the loneliest number that you’ll ever do.” Yet from Jobs’s and God’s — the great Designer — perspective, one is the biggest number of all. Two biblical figures in the New Testament realized this.
The first was a wealthy dignitary, who uncovered the riches of the number one after a conversation with Jesus. In Luke 18:18-23, he asked, “Good Teacher, what should I do to inherit eternal life?” He touted his moral uprightness — a devout adherent to the Mosaic law — since childhood. Jesus replied, “There is still one thing you haven’t done. Sell all your possessions and give the money to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven. Then come, follow Me.” However, the man refused the Lord’s counsel and walked away in discontent.
Secondly, a hard-working woman named Martha found out true productivity can flow from just one detail. In Luke 10:38-42, Martha diligently prepared a dinner spread for the Lord as a guest in her home. While she worked at a feverish pace, at the same time, her sister Mary listened to Jesus teaching in another room.
In a fit of frustration, Martha complained to Jesus, “Lord, doesn’t it seem unfair to You that my sister just sits here while I do all the work? Tell her to come and help me.” Jesus said, “My dear Martha, you are worried and upset over all these details. There is only one thing worth being concerned about. Mary has discovered it, and it will not be taken away from her.”
As the mogul and Martha faced God’s challenge, let’s ponder the question. What’s the one thing we’re holding onto that prevents us from receiving all of God’s blessings? Only with Him can we do what’s beyond our wildest dreams. Ephesians 3:20 says, “Now all glory to God, who is able, through His mighty power at work within us, to accomplish infinitely more than we might ask or think.”
As Steve Jobs longed for the time when one technological advancement would revolutionize society, God wants to transform our lives. It begins with a single decision to surrender to Him. A famous quote in Christendom — usually attributed to renowned pastor D.L. Moody — actually originated from his friend, British revivalist, Henry Varley, “The world has yet to see what God can do with a man fully consecrated to Him. By God’s help, I aim to be that man.”
Let’s give God the freedom to do whatever needs to be done so that we may be one with Him.
Sources:
All Bible references are taken from the New Living Translation
Video: “Steve Jobs Introduces iPhone”
Song: ”One” by Three Dog Night
Article: Christianity Today: “The World Has Yet to See…” by Mike Fackler
Book: “Crucial Experiences in the Life of D.L. Moody” by Paul Gericke
