Put Your Whatever Into Your Everything

Colossians 3:17 (ESV)

“And whatever you do, in word or deed, do everything in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through him.

Clever Strategies

If you have never read or are unfamiliar with “The Screwtape Letters” by C. S. Lewis, allow me to introduce you to the concept. Screwtape is a high-ranking tempter in Satan’s demonic cadre writing a series of letters to his nephew, a neophyte tempter named Wormwood. In his correspondence, Screwtape seeks to impart the devious strategies used by hell’s army against God’s most precious creation: human beings. In the first of these letters, seeking to convey basic elementary intelligence, he writes:

“Not ever having been a human, you don’t realize how enslaved they are to the ordinary.”

Everything is Sacred

Believers tend to live life with carefully constructed fences. Our lives are dominated by routine “from the rising of the sun to the going down of the same.” Hopefully, those habitual behaviors will include meaningful fellowship with other believers, church attendance, private prayer, personal worship, and Bible study. The error we often make is differentiating between activities like these which we consider spiritual, and those we classify as things we just do. Or, as Screwtape put it, “The ordinary.”

However, if we read Colossians carefully, we understand that our “whatever” needs to be a part of our “everything.” There can be no border or boundary between anything we say or do and the altar of surrender. There can be nothing too inconsequential, infinitesimal, or irrelevant to withhold from the altar. For the believer, there can only be the altar. To paraphrase something my friend Shannon Kapp wrote recently:

“The fire on the altar of our lives is easy to light, but it is agonizingly difficult to maintain.”

We estimate certain tasks, jobs, and pursuits in life as too meager to register on our personal spiritual Richter scales. And when we do, those tasks, jobs, and pursuits tend to smother the flames of our zeal for Christ and steal away the precious oxygen from that holy fire. Spiritual nurture is indispensable and we require the inspiration and encouragement of divine encounters whether they be in the secret place or among throngs of other worshippers. It is a common misunderstanding, however, that events are all we require in our devotional journeys.

Stay in Uniform

Every day, we proudly wear our finest “dress blues” because we are always soldiers of the cross. We must never take a moment out of that uniform. Every word and every deed, no matter how meaningless they seem, should be executed under the authority of our Commander-in-Chief, the Lord of Hosts. His character must be clearly seen and understood throughout our lives. It is critical that every witness to our everyday lives see that we are faithfully robed in the righteousness of, and representing well, our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ.

We cannot afford to squander even one second of one day from speaking and acting in the name of Jesus, giving thanks to the Father. Our “whatever” is to be done in His name, or, in other words, as His representative in every moment. It is risky business to step away from our true calling on this earth as His holy ambassadors. (2 Corinthians 5:20) Our “everything” must always represent Him.

We are being watched, and we are being watched constantly. Sometimes it is flesh and blood. But, when we imagine we are alone, there remain rulers, authorities, cosmic powers over this present darkness, and spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly places anticipating opportunity to influence and manipulate us when we are vulnerable. Keep your armor in place! Stay in uniform no matter how small the matter at hand.

Remember that our battles belong to the Lord, so our uniforms are not all about combat. Their primary purpose is to serve as our testimony to ourselves and to every being we happen to encounter with respect to who we represent and whose name we lift up. Our Mighty Warrior is also our Prince of Peace and our Faithful Shepherd. It is He who offers to lift our burdens and give us rest. He has proclaimed Himself as gentle and lowly in heart and has promised to abide with and revive those who are close to Him.

Meaningless Labels

Believers can only hinder their Christian lives and witnesses by dividing the seconds allotted to them each day and giving them useless titles. We have been purchased by the blood of Jesus Christ “lock, stock, and barrel,” so there can be nothing apart from life in His Holy Spirit. There are no divisions between the Spirit and the world when it comes to our words and actions. When we come to Christ, there can only be the spiritual.

The full implication of the Scripture teaches us that every portion of our lives is now the property of the King of kings and Lord of lords.

• Nothing exists outside of the perimeter of thanksgiving.

• There is no venue where we appear that can prevent our prayers from being heard.

• There is no position that can neutralize our praise and worship.

• There is no situation ineligible for the altar.

Try this: make a list from your life of everything you would consider of no consequence to God. Include the deeply personal, the private, the intimate, and even the embarrassing: especially the embarrassing. With these things in mind, contemplate the following words from Genesis 16:13:

“Then she called the name of the LORD who spoke to her,
You-Are-the-God-Who-Sees.”

Jehovah Shammah

God has many names, because language lacks for a single word that can embrace His nature, His character, and His purposes for us. Jehovah Shammah means, “God is There.” What a remarkable revelation! We are privileged to choose the involvement of the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, consciously and intentionally, in all facets of our widely diverse lives. His grace, provision, and peace can permeate our existence constantly, continually, and eternally.

And why not?

Who better than the Author of Life to be your companion, colleague, and comrade showing you the best ways to live?

Embrace His presence.

Fall deeply into His unfathomable, unconditional love.

Nothing is too small for Him to care about – not when it comes to you!