Early in my days in the corporate world, the first time I was given a position with my own office, I hung a sign over my desk that quoted Colossians 3:23. It said, “Whatever you do, work at it with all your heart, as working for the Lord, not for men.” It often comforted me when those I was working for were severely frustrating me and trying my patience! That passage helped re-center me and remind me of what was truly important. While that sign and office are long gone, the daily reminder that verse afforded me has stuck with me throughout my life. Recently as I was exercising, a similar thought, no doubt inspired by my recollection of that verse, occurred to me. That thought was to test all of my activity by whether or not it glorifies God. This is how we can do all things as working for the Lord. Everything we do must be for Him.
There is nothing we should do that cannot be done for the glory of God. Even our seemingly mundane and trivial tasks can be done with an attitude towards pleasing God and reflecting His love through our actions. In fact if there is something we are about to do that we cannot determine how to do it as working for the Lord, we should probably take a step back before engaging in that behavior. If we can’t do our jobs in a way that glorifies God, we should probably look for another job. If we can’t honor God in our relationships, then it’s time to develop some new relationships and let go of the old ones. There is no part of our life that is exempt from the lordship of Christ. Therefore, there is no area of our life that we should not be living as unto Him.
What are the motives behind what you do? If the underlying goal is not to serve Jesus and to bring about His Kingdom on earth, then whatever you’re doing is not worth doing. We should be able to trace every action back to pleasing God. We were not created to figure out how much fun and enjoyment we can get out of life. We were created to serve and glorify God (Isaiah 43:7; 1 Corinthians 10:31). We were created to do the work He gave us to do (Ephesians 2:10). All of our energy should be directed to fulfilling God’s purpose in our lives.
Life takes on a whole new meaning when we begin to look at everything we do through the lens of doing it for God. We begin to ask questions like, “How can I glorify God in this situation?” and “How can I further the mission of God through this activity?” Nothing else matters. We all have a finite amount of time to accomplish our mission on earth. Spending that time on pursuits outside of those worthy of God Himself is useless and wasted. Everything we do should be done as unto the Lord. Every thought, word, and action should be for Him, because it is for this we were created.