“So whether you eat or drink or whatever you do, do it all for the glory of God.” 1 Cor 10:31
In our reading last week, we were encouraged to write down a Purpose Statement. I’ve never done this, but if asked my purpose, I would most likely quote the verse above. It sums up our basic purpose whether we’re busy with big or little things. We ought to do what we do for the glory of God.
With that goal in mind, even seemingly meaningless tasks become tasks of great importance. If I’m fixing my coffee in the breakroom at work and spill some sugar, all of a sudden whether or not I clean up my mess and how good of a job I do matters! Why? Because God’s glory is at stake even in such a small situation. I’ve taken the name of Christ and what I do is a reflection on Him! A good companion passage to the one above is Col 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.” I should clean up that spilled sugar in a manner pleasing to God not merely in a manner that meets man’s standards.
In addition to a Purpose Statment, on pg 250 of Ken Boa’s Conformed to His Image, Ken has comprised a list 40 statements that he aspires to live up to. He says he reads the list from time to time and falls under conviction at his failings. That’s no surprise since the mark we’re shooting for is a high one. To quote C. S. Lewis, “The main thing we learn from a serious attempt to practise the Christian virtues is that we fail.”. We keep coming short of the glory of God (Rom 3:23)! One might think it best to quit fighting and simply give in to sin. After all, if we’re saved by grace (Eph 2:8), if we could never do enough to earn salvation (Eph 2:9), and if God forgives the sins of those honest enough to confess they’re sinners (1 Jn 1:9), then why set the bar so high? As Paul asks in Rom 6:1,2: “What shall we say then? Shall we continue in sin, that grace may abound?” He’s barely got the thought out before responding, “God forbid!”
The fact is we should hold ourselves to a higher standard as the children of God. Resisting sin is not a vain effort. God’s assured us that with every temptation He makes a way to escape it (1 Cor 10:13). If we resist the devil, the Lord says he’ll flee from us (James 4:7). And though we’re saved by grace through faith, those that possess true, living faith will always manifest that faith by doing good (James 2:14-19). As Christ points out in Matt 7:21-23, many will not enter the kingdom of heaven, not because they didn’t confess Christ as Lord, but because they didn’t do the will of His Father.We’re right in the middle of Ken’s 40 goals on pg 251, these high standards for which we ought to strive to reach. They are convicting, but we also rejoice to know that in Christ, all things are possible, including these 40 principles. Let us press on then! Don’t let past failings set the rule for future attempts (Phi 3:13,14). Strive for the glory of God in all things, and one day you’ll find yourself standing face to face with Jesus Christ and realize that your flesh, that old man that resists these godly efforts, is finally dead and that you’ve been made just like Jesus! 1 John 3:2: “Dear friends, now we are children of God, and what we will be has not yet been made known. But we know that when he appears, we shall be like him, for we shall see him as he is.”
Jamie