August 4, 2020 WHAT WE DO MATTERS
2 Corinthians 3:9-10, 14-15, 17 “Therefore also we have as our ambition, whether at home or absent, to be pleasing to Him. For we must all appear before the judgement seat of Christ, that each one may be recompensed for his deeds in the body, according to what he has done, whether good or bad.” “For the love of Christ controls us, having concluded this, that one died for all, therefore all died; and He died for all, that they who live should live should no longer live for themselves, but for Him who died and rose again on their behalf.” “Therefore if any man is in Christ, he is a new creation; the old thigs passed away, behold, new things have come.”
What is our ambition? And, how do we live in this world and go about the necessities of life-all the things we have to do-and at the same time be pleasing to Him and to have Him as our priority in life? Can we work 40 hours a week, perhaps take a vacation, mow the lawn, clean the house-and etc., and still be pleasing to Him? Yes! However, it is possible for us to be focused on our life, and trying to work God into our schedule and into our life. The good news is that in our culture, in the day in which we live, we can live in a way that is pleasing to Him and in a way that will not cause us to be ashamed when we appear before Christ. What we do is important; but more importantly is the focus of our heart, because what we do flows out of our hearts. The key element of this is that since Christ died for all, including you and me, we also died. Christ died on our behalf, forgiving us, restoring us to the Father, making us new, and joining us to Himself; we belong to Him. Because of what He has done on our behalf and because we belong to Him, we should no longer live for ourselves but for Him who died and rose again on our behalf. We can be about the necessities of daily life, but we can do so with a heart of doing what we do as unto the Lord; and we can be alert to the leading of the Spirit and do the things that He puts in our hearts to do. Our life, the way we live, is to be a testimony of the presence of Christ in us. Obviously, there are things we should not do, and there are thoughts we should not have; we have the power to lay aside anything that is not pleasing to the Lord-and that is living for Him. When we come to know in a real and personal way the love of God, we find that His love ‘controls’ us just as it did Paul; our love for Him and His love for us becomes the motivating factor for the life we live. So, all we do really does matter; even what we do in private is done before Him. Let it be our heart to please Him in all we do.
Colossians 1:10, 3:23 “So as to walk in a manner worthy of the Lord, fully pleasing to Him, bearing fruit in every good work and increasing in the knowledge of God.” ”Whatever you do work heartily, as for the Lord and not for men.”
Blessings,
Buddy
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