Does what I do REALLY matter to God?

You betcha!

By now, most of you should have Colossians 3 memorized!  Just in case, here it is again:

Colossians 3 (Put On the New Self)

 ¹...keep seeking the things above, where Christ is, seated at the right hand of God.  ²Set your mind on the things above, not on the things that are on earth.  ³For you have died and your life is hidden with Christ in God.  ⁴When Christ, who is our life, is revealed, then you also will be revealed with Him in glory.  ⁵Therefore consider the members of your earthly body as dead to immorality, impurity, passion, evil desire, and greed, which amounts to idolatry.  ⁶For it is because of these things that the wrath of God will come upon the sons of disobedience, ⁷and in them you also once walked, when you were living in them.  ⁸But now you also, put them all aside: anger, wrath, malice, slander, and abusive speech from your mouth.

 ⁹Do not lie to one another, since you laid aside the old self with its evil practices,  ¹⁰and have put on the new self who is being renewed to a true knowledge according to the image of the One who created him--  ¹¹a renewal in which there is no distinction between Greek and Jew, circumcised and uncircumcised, barbarian, Scythian, slave and freeman, but Christ is all, and in all.

 ¹²So, as those who have been chosen of God, holy and beloved, put on a heart of compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness and patience;  ¹³bearing with one another, and forgiving each other, whoever has a complaint against anyone; just as the Lord forgave you, so also should you.  ¹⁴Beyond all these things put on love, which is the perfect bond of unity.  ¹⁵Let the peace of Christ rule in your hearts, to which indeed you were called in one body; and be thankful.  ¹⁶Let the word of Christ richly dwell within you, with all wisdom teaching and admonishing one another with psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing with thankfulness in your hearts to God.

 ¹⁷Whatever you do in word or deed, do all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks through Him to God the Father.

Family Relations

 ¹⁸Wives, be subject to your husbands, as is fitting in the Lord.  ¹⁹Husbands, love your wives and do not be embittered against them.  ²⁰Children, be obedient to your parents in all things, for this is well-pleasing to the Lord.  ²¹Fathers, do not exasperate your children, so that they will not lose heart.

 ²²Slaves, in all things obey those who are your masters on earth, not with external service, as those who merely please men, but with sincerity of heart, fearing the Lord.  ²³Whatever you do, do your work heartily, as for the Lord rather than for men,  ²⁴knowing that from the Lord you will receive the reward of the inheritance It is the Lord Christ whom you serve.  ²⁵For he who does wrong will receive the consequences of the wrong which he has done, and that without partiality.

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Christians are not suppose to reflect character traits of non-Christians: me-centered living.  Christians are supposed to reflect Jesus.  Essentially, where-ever you go, whatever you are doing, you are to reflect Christ and not yourself.  And, as you go to work, school, a friend's house, a concert, etc., whatever you are doing, should be done with the intent to please God, not yourself.

Is this easy?  By ourselves, not one bit!  That's why Paul reminds us that we've died to ourselves and are in Christ.  This is why we are to encourage each other to live a life pleasing to God, characterized by love, kindness, humility, gentleness, compassion, forgiveness, etc.

Hmm....read on to discover more about "The Code."

PlanetWisdom.com Devotionals

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The Code: Who? Posted: 10 Aug 2010 01:00 AM PDT "LORD, who may dwell in your sanctuary? Who may live on your holy hill?" (Psalm 15:1) Psalm 15 is not just about discovering the code to living unshakable lives; it's about something much deeper. It answers the questions in today's verse -- what kind of life does God want from us? God dealt differently with His people then. God's place on earth was in the tabernacle (or sanctuary) on Zion, Jerusalem, God's "holy hill." David was asking what it takes to be worthy to come before God and worship Him, to be His guest, to spend time with Him. Of course, those of us in Christ understand that nobody is worthy of living with God forever because of our sin. We must first be forgiven through faith in Jesus to be granted a spot in the eternal choir of worshippers in the new Zion. But David's questions still matter to us. How do worshippers of God live? What's their code? What choices of ours does God really care about? Think: Does it matter to God how Christian live now if we've already be forgiven for our sin through faith in Jesus? Pray: Ask God to give you a deep passion to be a person of everyday integrity. Do: Look up the definitions of "character" and "integrity" in an online dictionary. Copy and paste them into an e-mail and send it to yourself.

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Mary E.Hickcox
www.CalvaryBaptistSM.org
http://mary-neotes.blogspot.com/