Devotionals

All For The Glory Of God

by Stephen Wong
08/04/20
Free to Share
Author requests article critique

  Message Writer
  Hire Writer

Tweet

“And whatever you do, whether in word or deed, do it all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through him.”                Colossians 3:17 NIV

Take a moment to reflect on the word “worship”? What does it make you think of? Perhaps you think of a congregation singing together at church? Perhaps you think of people gathering together to study the Bible and pray together? Maybe you think of people going out and eagerly preaching the gospel. Although these are all wonderful ways of worshipping God, I wonder if our view of worship is too limited. Perhaps many of us tend to divide our lives into the spiritual and secular. We think of worship as only related to the how we serve God through church and what we do in church services, while other seemingly less “spiritual” tasks during the week like going to work, cooking dinner or washing the dishes are just necessary duties that we need to fulfil in order to keep our lives going.

According to Paul, everything we do and say can be an act of worship to God, if it is done “in the name of the Lord Jesus.” To do something “in the name” of Jesus indicates that we should act and speak in a way that is in line with his character. When we seek to obey and honour Jesus in every act we do, seemingly ordinary tasks like washing the dishes or mowing the lawn can be a form of worshipping God. Paul even states that even something as simple as eating can be done for the glory of God (1 Corinthians 10:31). Furthermore, Paul emphasises that our worship should be characterised by thankfulness (Colossians 3:15-17). As we seek to worship God in all that we do, we can be continually thankful in the truth that through Jesus’ death and resurrection, we have been raised to new life and we now belong with him (Colossians 3:1-3).

As we look toward the week ahead, what will our attitude be like toward the small mundane tasks like grocery shopping or filling up the petrol? Will we grumble our way through all the less pleasant parts of our week that we have to do, or with thankfulness, will we take up the attitude of seeking to worship God in every task, no matter how tedious it may seem? What if all of us lived with the attitude of doing everything each day for the glory of God? Imagine what a wonderful way of worshipping God this would be, and the amazing impact we could have in witnessing to others. Pray that this would be true for all of us.

Lord God,

I thank you that Jesus died for our sins and rose again, so that we too could die to our sinful nature and be raised to a new life of holiness and communion with you. I pray that as we approach each new day, may our whole lives be a pleasing and fragrant offering to you as we give thanks to you and glorify you in all that we say and do. In Jesus’ name I pray,

Amen