Tag Archives: do it as unto the Lord

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Working For “The Man”

It Is Really The Lord Christ You Are Serving

SYNOPSIS: If you are married, then love your husband like you would if your spouse were Jesus. Serve your wife like you would if Jesus were your bride. Parent your children like Jesus were your child. If you are under someone’s authority—a parent, teacher, a policeman who pulls you over, a supervisor who knows less about the job than you do, or the owner of the company—then treat them with the kind of respect you would give Jesus if he were in their place. If you are in authority, then lead like Jesus would—treat those under you with love and respect. And do your work like you were working for the man, because really, you are working for “The Man.” If it is cooking breakfast and cleaning house, or doing homework and working on some project, or if it is keeping the books and ringing up a customer, then do it as if you were doing it for Jesus himself. Try it—because, in fact, it is the Lord Christ you are serving.

Project 52—Memorize:
Colossians 3:23-24

“Whatever you do, work at it with all your heart, as working for the Lord, not for men, since you know that you will receive an inheritance from the Lord as a reward. It is the Lord Christ you are serving.”

What if you did everything for one week as if you were doing it for Jesus?  What do you think would happen? Do you think your life, and the lives of people who interact with you, would be different? Better? Changed for the good?

I want to suggest a seven-day experiment, starting from the moment you read these words:  For one full week, treat everyone you meet as if you were meeting Jesus. Speak to them, work for them, lead them, serve them, think about them just like they were Jesus himself. Do that, no matter how you feel or how they respond to you, and see what happens.

If you are married, love your husband like you would if your spouse were Jesus. Serve your wife like you would if Jesus were your bride. Parent your children like Jesus were your child. If you are under someone’s authority—a parent, teacher, a policeman who pulls you over, a supervisor who knows less about the job than you do, or the owner of the company—treat them with the kind of respect you would give Jesus if he were in their place. If you are in authority, lead like Jesus would—treat those under you with love and respect.

And do your work like you were working for the man, because really, Paul says, you are working for “the man”! If it is cooking breakfast and cleaning house, or doing homework and working on some project, or if it is keeping the books and ringing up a customer, do it as if you were doing it for Jesus himself.

Try it—because, in fact, it is the Lord Christ you are serving.

What if you did that?  What if…?

“It is not what a man does that determines whether his work is sacred or secular, but why he does it.” ~A.W. Tozer

Reflect and Apply: “Whatever you do” … that is a pretty comprehensive list.  Your goal this week is to do those things out of unconditional love, with unrestrained joy, full of Christ’s peace, exhibiting absolute patience, with complete kindness, in God-hearted gentleness, out of Spirit-led goodness, with unimpeachable faithfulness along with unflappable self-control. That’s how Jesus would do it.

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God, I Give You My Best!

52 Simple Prayers for 2018

In everything you do this week, do it as if you were doing it for Jesus. If you are married, love your husband like you would if your spouse were Jesus. Serve your wife like you would if Jesus were your bride. Parent your children like Jesus were your child. If you are under someone’s authority—a parent, teacher, a policeman who pulls you over, a supervisor who knows less about the job than you do, or the owner of the company—treat them with the kind of respect you would give Jesus is he were in their place. If you are in authority, lead like Jesus would. Do it no matter how you feel or how they respond to you, and just see what happens. Try it—because in fact, it is the Lord Christ you are serving.

A Simple Prayer for Offering My Best:

God, in everything I do this week, I will give it my best shot. I will love more freely, encourage more fully, serve more diligently, and work more excellently. I will do it for you, because it is you I am serving.

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Working For The Man

Reflect:
Colossians 3:23-24

“Whatever you do, work at it with all your heart, as working for the Lord, not for men, since you know that you will receive an inheritance from the Lord as a reward. It is the Lord Christ you are serving.”

What if you did everything for one week as if you were doing it for Jesus? What do you think would happen? Do you think your life, and the lives of people who interact with you, would be different? Better? Changed for the good?

I want to suggest a seven-day experiment, starting from the moment you read these words: For one full week, treat everyone you meet as if you were meeting Jesus. Speak to them, work for them, lead them, serve them, think about them just like they were Jesus himself. Do that, no matter how you feel or how they respond to you, and see what happens.

If you are married, love your husband like you would if your spouse were Jesus. Serve your wife like you would if Jesus were your bride. Parent your children like Jesus were your child. If you are under someone’s authority—a parent, teacher, a policeman who pulls you over, a supervisor who knows less about the job than you do, or the owner of the company—treat them with the kind of respect you would give Jesus if he were in their place. If you are in authority, lead like Jesus would—treat those under you with love and respect.

And do your work like you were working for the man, because really, Paul says, you are working for “the man”! If it is cooking breakfast and cleaning house, or doing homework and working on some project, or if it is keeping the books and ringing up a customer, do it as if you were doing it for Jesus himself.

Try it—because in fact, it is the Lord Christ you are serving.

What if you did that? What if…?

“It is not what a man does that determines whether his work is sacred or secular, but why he does it.” ~A.W. Tozer

Reflect and Apply: “Whatever you do” … that is a pretty comprehensive list. Your goal this week is to do those things out of unconditional love, with unrestrained joy, full of Christ’s peace, exhibiting absolute patience, with complete kindness, in God-hearted gentleness, out of Spirit-led goodness, with unimpeachable faithfulness along with unflappable self-control. That’s how Jesus would do it.

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No Spiritual Graffiti Please!

Read Proverbs 18

Featured Verse: Proverbs 18:9 (MSG)

“Slack habits and sloppy work are as bad as vandalism.”

When you made the decision to follow Christ, you entered into a binding contract with God Almighty that all of your life would be lived for his glory alone.  All of your life!  Not just some of it; not just your time in church; not just your early morning devotional time—you committed every split second of it to him, and nothing less!  Soli Deo Gloria!

Now as serious as your responsibilities in that deal are, what you get out of it is still unbelievably grace-weighted in your favor, times infinity!  You see, in light of all that Jesus did to pull your no-good carcass out of the HOV lane to eternal hell, it is only right and fitting that your 24/7 existence should be offered in such a way that it is a living and holy sacrifice—the kind he will find acceptable. Obviously, this is the only appropriate, logical and pleasing way to worship him.

Now in case you haven’t picked up on it yet, I’m only quoting what Paul said in Romans 12:1—just paraphrasing a little, since Paul didn’t know what an HOV lane was.

“Take your everyday, ordinary life—your sleeping, eating, going-to-work, and walking-around life—and place it before God as an offering. Embracing what God does for you is the best thing you can do for him.” (Romans 12:1, The Message)

God created you, and through his death and resurrection, Jesus recreated you, so that you could take your everyday, ordinary, sleeping, eating, going-to-work, walking around life—I think that about covers it—and use it in such a way that God will receive it as an offering of worship placed before his glorious throne.

That is why even seemingly innocuous stuff like the private thoughts you entertain and the personal habits you tolerate and the inaudible words you mutter are extremely important—because God knows, God sees and God hears. (Psalm 139:1-4)  And God Almighty wants even your unguarded life to reflect his glory and grace.  The Apostle Paul said it well in Colossians 3:23-24,

“Whatever you do, work at it with all your heart, as working for the Lord, not for men, since you know that you will receive an inheritance from the Lord as a reward. It is the Lord Christ you are serving.”

Now since, as Isaiah 49:16 says, our “walls are ever before him”, let’s keep the spiritual graffiti from defacing what should be the God-pleasing offering of our everyday lives. What a tragedy it is to offer him a vandalized life—as Solomon referred to it in today’s proverb—either in our 24/7 life or on the day we stand before him.

He deserves better—we can do better!

“If Jesus Christ be God and died for me, then no sacrifice can be too great for me to make for Him.”  ~C.T. Studd

Winning At Life:

Read the entirety of Colossians 3 at some point today, and reflect on how well you are offering the various dimensions of your life “as unto the Lord.”  And since your “walls are ever before” the Lord, where needed, clean up the spiritual graffiti.