Tuesday, June 30, 2009

Colossians 3:23

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Colossians 3:23


23 And [kai] whatsoever [pas] [hostis] [ean] ye do, [poieo] do [ergazomai] it heartily [ek], [psuche] as [hos] to the Lord, [kurios] and [kai] not [ou] unto men; [anthropos] KJV-Interlinear


23 Whatever you do, do your work heartily, as for the Lord rather than for men; NASB


Two different words are used here for the word ‘do.’ The first, ‘poieo,’ refers to an empty effort applied to whatever activity it is that you do in life.

The empty effort is that which has no value. Whether you hustle in life after worldly possessions, status, wealth, achievement, whether you do just enough to get by, or whether you try to take advantage of the situations of others, try to get things for free, try to take all of the shortcuts you can discover in life, makes no different. Your effort is of no value.

The second word, ‘ergazomai,’ refers to work performed with a passion and love. And that is what you are to do in life, in everything that you do, with the mindset that God is watching you intently, and that your effort is there to please Him, not other people.

Whether you clean toilets for a living, clean out barns, change diapers, perform surgeries, build rockets, write books, drive trucks, paint pictures or whatever, none of these things are any more or less important than anything else.

The world may view the doctor with more prestige than the janitor, but to God, each person’s effort in their work is viewed with regard to their function in their spiritual life.

Jesus Christ is your ultimate and only important evaluator for your life. Your future, your eternal blessings are going to be based on your spiritual achievement not your worldly class status. The toilet cleaner who advances to spiritual maturity, will have infinitely more in heaven than the spiritually immature professor.

Granted, the lawyers and doctors and celebrities will have more worldly wealth now, but that all goes away when they die.

Didn’t several celebrities pass away in the past few days? And now, and only now, do they fully realize the error and loss of their ways. For all of eternity, they will have only that which God grants to them, and anyone who lacks spiritual growth and spiritual production, that blessing package will be slim to none.

No person can earn nor deserve anything in life. You cannot work for your blessing. There is no place for mans boasting or arrogance in his perception that he earned or hustled for God, in order to get Gods blessing.

However, when a person is advancing in their spiritual life, the believer has to live within the fellowship sphere. And anything done from within that sphere, is good works, good production, divine production, gold, silver and precious stones.

While you grow up, the doctrine you learn creates a spiritual structure within your soul. That is a house, a fortress, a temple, a mansion within you. However, a mansion has to be furnished and moved into, before it becomes a permanent residence. That is where your daily activities come into play.

Doing whatever it is that you do in life, if done as unto the Lord (done while in fellowship), then your life benefits from that production as spiritual production.

Doctrine creates knowledge, knowledge repeated becomes understanding, understanding applied forms the learning process, the learning process builds production and results in wisdom or a smarter thinking within you.

This whole process is the circle of wisdom, the framework of your spiritual life. The ultimate result is the completion of your existence.

And a completed you, qualifies for phenomenal blessings as a result of Gods positive and successful evaluation of your spiritual life.

Remember, one day you will stand face to face before Christ. He will lean forward to you, and ask you. ‘What is your story?’

Your spiritual life is your story. Unique to you, constructed by Gods grace, and the most valuable possession you will ever have.