Page Two: “Doing All You Do In The Name of Christ” 7/14/13
|
(15) If any man's work shall be burned, he shall suffer loss: but he himself shall be saved; yet so as by fire. (16) Know ye not that ye are the temple of God, and that the Spirit of God dwelleth in you?”
You see, God have blessed you with so much in your personality, your abilities, your talents, your gifts; and with every talent, gift, ability, communication, skills, communication, etc. comes responsibility and accountability. Your life is that important to God that He wouldn’t have you waste it or squander it or disregard it. Instead, He’s fully aware of you and yours and He must judge it truthfully. First, God is interested, concerned, and observing every part of your life. God, as you know is omniscient. This means He knows everything and He sees everything. Second, each of us will have to give an account to the LORD for everything we say and do. Third, every part of your life is affected by your relationship to Jesus Christ. Colossians 3:17 “And whatsoever ye do in word or deed, do all in the name of the Lord Jesus, …” What does it mean to “do all in the name of the LORD Jesus?” First, Jesus is your Authority. The world may take His name in vain. The world may reject Him and you. Yet, He is the LORD Jesus Christ. He’s your LORD and Master. He’s not only with you every moment of your day. He’s the One Who lives His life through you. And how does He do that? Simply by your continual surrender to Him. You see, He has the right and the joy of providing personal direction to you as He oversees your life. What a wonderful way to live! He knows you inside and out. And He loves you perfectly and eternally. And there isn’t a second of your day that He wants to be left out of. Some years back a Christian by the name of Charles Sheldon. |
Actually it was in the year 1896. Pastor Charles Sheldon wrote a book called “In His Steps” in which he proposed a phrase for every Christian to live by. That phrase became very popular in the 1990’s; in your day and in my day. It’s “What would Jesus do?”
In every single thing you decided to do, said Pastor Sheldon, you should ask just one question “What would Jesus do?” The story of “In His Steps” is this. Mr. Henry Maxwell met a homeless man who challenged him to take seriously what it meant to live in the imitation of Christ. The homeless man was wondering why so many Christians ignored the poor and the homeless. Here’s page ten of “In His Steps.” "I heard some people singing at a church prayer meeting the other night, 'All for Jesus, all for Jesus, All my being's ransomed powers, All my thoughts, and all my doings, All my days, and all my hours.' And I kept wondering as I sat on the steps outside just what they meant by it. It seems to me there's an awful lot of trouble in the world that somehow wouldn't exist if all the people who sing such songs went and lived them out. I suppose I don't understand. But what would Jesus do? Is that what you mean by following His steps? It seems to me sometimes as if the people in the big churches had good clothes and nice houses to live in, and money to spend for luxuries, and could go away on summer vacations and all that, while the people outside the churches, thousands of them, I mean, die in tenements, and walk the streets for jobs, and never have a piano or a picture in the house, and grow up in misery and drunkenness and sin." Folks, when it comes to “doing everything in the name of the LORD Jesus,” it requires something of you and me. You see, He’s your Authority. And He’s also your Example. Here’s my question to you “How do you apply “do all in the name of the LORD Jesus” to your life? |