ACKNOWLEDGE THE LORD IN ALL YOU DO

SATURDAY 02 APRIL 2022

The faith of the saints, their hope and their power or effectiveness depend on acknowledging God in all they do. It is absolutely perfect to always show God an honour by being consciously aware of Him in all our involvements, aspirations, associations and endeavours. To be consistent with our divine timing and purpose, we must find this acknowledgement as an internal consciousness and fulfilment, as well as a force that drives our Christian walk.

Reference: Colossians 3:17 New Living Translation (NLT) "And whatever you do or say, do it as a representative of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks through him to God the Father."

In your Christian journey of faith, you must fully acknowledge Jesus in all you do or say as though you are acting in His stead. By this I don't mean, put Jesus first or second in all you do, rather I mean represent Him in all you do, because He is unquestionably and inarguably, the First in all. In your understanding of things, fully depend on the Lord, no matter the situation or circumstance. Therefore, whether in word or deed, execute all your tasks and assignments in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through Him.

Looking at the earlier verses or rather, considering the very first "two verses" of this Chapter, Colossians 3, the only way we can acknowledge Christ in all we do get involved is by first, setting our minds on things above (verse 2). Setting our minds on the things of the Spirit is the process of steadying or fixing our focus on, and generating our knowledge from divine realities, and this in turn influences our engagements with godly perspective and precision and notably, in this way, effective results and outcomes are guaranteed. In other words, we should entirely rely on our faith in God as regards our earthly dealings and experiences, both in actions and communications.

Now the two most important pictures painted by Paul in today's Scripture reference are: Whatever you do (Your actions), and whatever you say (Your communications). To sum up, Paul is saying, "We are the elect of God and ambassadors for Christ; therefore we must represent Him in two important ways - action and speech."

Let's consider the first: Whatever you do (Your actions) - Your actions must be based on Christ's moral attributes and the sacred pattern of His life revealed to us in the Scripture and in us by His indwelling presence. As the holy and beloved, your actions should never reflect the thoughts of an unclean acts, mind and desires, such as anger, bitterness, malice, fornication, adultery, idolatry and covetousness. As an ambassador for Christ, called to represent Christ on earth, you live to grant active expression to His love, mercies, kindness, passions, desires and all of His perfection and glory. Simply put, our godly actions are our ways of acting toward any given task or our approach in a given situation, with the mindset and attitude of pleasing God all the way.

The Second: Whatever you say (Your communications) - You are not an ambassador for audible evil expressions, such as slander, nonsensical remarks, ungodly speeches and filthy languages. Remember, Colossians 4:6 (ESV) reads, "Let your speech always be gracious, seasoned with salt, so that you may know how you ought to answer each person." Since Paul was addressing the Colossian Christians in this particular exhortation, it means that there are Christians who are combative, censorious and careless with words. Do not copy Christians with unseasoned articulation in speech or walk worthy of their character based on communications, rather be graceful in your speech always, both in a courteous manner and in your choice of lexicon. All the more so, as you represent the Lord Jesus in all, keep giving thanks through Him to God the Father. Shalom!

Scripture Reading - Romans 14:11; Philippians 2:11; 1 John 2:23; Hebrews 10:23; 1 John 4:15.

Guided Prayer: Heavenly Father, you have chosen and called me to live for your glory on earth. Through the conscious awareness of your indwelling presence, I'm kindled by true grace in my Christian journey of faith. Hence, my actions are positively impactful, inspiring and encouraging, always fit for the edification of others. My words are full of grace, spiritual realities and godly flavour, able to communicate and respond to others in a thoughtful manner, with meekness and wisdom. I thereby acknowledge daily that I represent you in deeds and in speech, and above all, I remain thankful always in Jesus' Name, Amen!