How to Make Whatever You Are Doing Be Unto the Lord

Sometimes you are doing too much, and you know it from the tumble of thoughts burying the task that truly needs your attention. You find yourself making slow progress in several areas simultaneously. At every spin, you find more before you that could be straightened, sorted, or scheduled.

Oh friend, I get it.

I admit I mostly (okay, only) wipe out the interior of my fridge when I should be packing for a trip. I tidy the pantry and put wheels to a wild whim of an idea when I have barely enough margin for the minimum. I make spontaneous updates to pages on my website that don’t need to be fixed. 

The higher my stack of urgent responsibilities, the faster my brain churns. There is a reason I keep an AquaNotes pad in my shower to capture sudden inspiration.

If you struggle with your relationship with work–fighting excuses, inefficiency, or exhaustion–welcome! There’s grace and good news, I find, for real people like us.

My slow journey through the New Testament lands me in the book of Colossians, and this week I’m lingering in chapter three. Here’s what strikes me about verse 17: Paul doesn’t say to do your work unto the Lord only when your load isn’t too much, or only when you can keep your priorities in a God-honoring order, or only when you don’t feel stressed, stretched, or sidelined. He says, 

Surely, no matter what you are doing (speaking, writing, or working), do it all in the name of Jesus our Maker, sending thanks through Him to God our Father.

Colossians 3:17, The Voice

Paul is not shaming you for doing too much or too little, but inviting your tired heart to swell with thankfulness toward Christ–no matter how busy or burdened you are at the moment.

There’s hopefulness in his voice that he can’t hide. 

In any and every circumstance, we can honor the name of our Lord. 

Always and everywhere, we can tell God thank you.

Life-Changing Gratitude

Have you experienced the way gratitude softens the crusty edges of your heart? Or how it graces you with fresh perspective? Or how it brings you peace, joy, or strength in the middle of circumstances you simply can’t control?

When I think of thankfulness, I hear a harmony of voices attesting to its life-changing power. Gratitude changes our relationships–with others, ourselves, and God. It can mend marriages and ease anxiety and form our faith, as I see week after week from the front-row seat I get as host of Begin Within: A Gratitude Series. (If you’re not getting the stories, you can sign up HERE.)

Paul’s encouragement to the Colossians hints at what might happen if gratitude takes root in our hearts. Take a moment to imagine your day without the weight of seeking approval, without the worry that you’re a disappointment, without the overwhelm of trying to keep up.

What if whatever it is that you are doing brought you joy–not the superficial, circumstance-dependent kind, but the free-flowing, spilling-over kind that points the people around you to Jesus?

What if you woke with purpose and a reverent, expectant heart, knowing that even the challenges and menial responsibilities offer opportunity to elevate the name of our Lord?

What if gratitude began to rewire your thoughts and help you adopt “the mind of Christ” (1 Corinthians 2:16)?

May All You Are Doing Glorify God

Here’s the thing. God’s not after forced gratitude or reluctant praise any more than He wants us to obsess over what we are doing and not doing. 

Gratitude can feel effortless. That’s what happens when you fill up on God’s Word. Trace the grace of God in His Spirit-inspired words, and it undoes you. When we are in awe of God, we automatically elevate Him–as we go about our ordinary lives.

There’s a connection between what fills us and what flows from us.

Backing up a verse to get more context, I find Paul painting a stirring picture of ripple-effect faith.

Let the word of the Anointed One richly inhabit your lives. With all wisdom teach, counsel, and instruct one another. Sing the psalms, compose hymns and songs inspired by the Spirit, and keep on singing—sing to God from hearts full and spilling over with thankfulness. Surely, no matter what you are doing (speaking, writing, or working), do it all in the name of Jesus our Master, sending thanks through Him to God our Father.

Colossians 3:16-17, The Voice

Note the inflow: we soak in Scripture, filling our minds with truth, letting it bend us into the likeness of Christ. 

In order to make whatever you are doing be about God, this is where you start. Getting to know His nature. Learning the rhythms of His heart. Welcoming the work God wants to do inside you.

But the design of God necessitates an outlet. He fills us so that we overflow with gentle wisdom, genuine compassion, ready forgiveness, generous grace, and God-directed gratitude. 

Paul’s proposition is this: fill up on God so the overflow of all that you are doing points people around you to Him. Only then can you honor God with everything you say, write, and do.

We tend to make a distinction between spiritual habits and the routine parts of our lives. Yet Paul says, “no matter what you are doing . . . do it all in the name of Jesus.” This means that every word counts. It means our work matters–all of it. 

So let’s look for the opportunities as we go about our work to declare the greatness of God, with a grateful heart. 

Lord, show us where our work has become self-glorifying rather than God-honoring. Guide our steps, our thoughts, and our words. Fill us with Your Word so gratitude spills effortlessly into the routine and ordinary areas of our lives. May we make all that we do be for You. In the name of Jesus, I pray. Amen.

Just a friend over here in your corner,

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What if you gave your faith the chance to ripple right into your neighborhood? These quick tips provide a wide variety of baby steps to help you begin to build friendships with your neighbors. When we get close to God and let others get close to us, the things God is working out in us can show.

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