The Apostle Paul spent most of what we know as Colossians 3 giving instructions to the church on how to conduct themselves as believers. He concludes his exhortation with what might considered a concise summary of all he’s written thus far: 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. Colossians 3:17 ESV
This is one of those verses that comfortably stands on its own as a truth because it’s straightforward, encouraging, convicting, and powerful. It can be applied to every area of our life, and its context transcends culture, society, and individual understanding. It’s beautiful.
What we see here is that whether we are at work or play, having a good day or a bad one, signing a song or attending a meeting at the office, doing the dishes or serving at church, we should be doing everything in the name of the Lord Jesus. Paul’s command leaves no exclusions; the Greek word for everything (pas) literally means “all things.”
What does it mean to do things “in the name of” the Lord? Well, Jesus modeled this for us perfectly as He did everything in the name of His Father. For example, in John 12:49 He said, “For I have not spoken on my own authority, but the Father who sent me has himself given me a commandment—what to say and what to speak.” And in John 17:4 He prayed to the Father, “I glorified you on earth, having accomplished the work that you gave me to do.”
Doing everything in the name of the Lord means to live in a manner that reflects His character. It means representing Christ in our actions and words. It means that we are to behave in such a way that our lives are inwardly and outwardly aligned with His will and purpose, always seeking to bring glory to God.
We will find significant blessings in life if we follow this command because as we intentionally do “all things” in His name and with thanksgiving, we will not be consumed with selfish, earthly desires and should find ourselves focused more on heavenly things, as Paul taught us to do in Col. 3:2.
Consider this mindset and how it could transform our walk with Christ:
· Work ethics improve: We avoid doing shoddy work and cutting corners because we are instead doing it as though we are serving the Lord (we’ll dive more into this in Col. 3:23).
· Relationships improve: We watch our tongue more closely and avoid using language that is cruel or unbecoming of a believer.
· Spiritual heath improves: We stay focused on God’s will as we ponder if what we are doing is truly important, helpful, edifying, or generally appropriate.
· Worship improves: As this mentality is implemented into our daily behaviors, we more purely honor God with our work, words, and actions.
Now, we’re not perfect and I’ll be the first to admit that doing “all things in the name of Jesus” is a pretty daunting responsibility. But, as we should always do with scripture, we humbly take the instruction to heart, recognize where we fail in it, ask God to work it out in us, and strive to apply it to our day-to-day thoughts and actions. A good place to start here is to commit this verse to memory and try to use it like a filter for life, sifting our actions and words to be a living example of our faith in Christ.
Lastly, and in what may be the anchor of this chapter, Paul says that we are to “givethanks to God the Father through [Christ].”
Paul really drives home the importance of a sincerely thankful heart. I could argue that thanksgiving underpins this entire book, which makes me wonder if Epaphras told Paul the church struggled in this area. And perhaps this hits home with us because it’s something we struggle with, too.
Our selfishness often clouds our ability to be thankful, and it can take a lot of mental fortitude to remain in an attitude of thanksgiving, especially, and ironically, when we have more than we need. Consider what Paul wrote in Romans 1:21: “For although they knew God, they did not honor him as God or give thanks to him, but they became futile in their thinking, and their foolish hearts were darkened.” The verses afterward (Rom. 1:22-32) show the eternal consequences that stem from a heart that refuses to honor God and lives in ungratefulness, so we must avoid this at all costs. Instead, we should be thankful to God for everything He has already done for and given us to prevent stumbling into an unappreciative and ungrateful state of mind.
Thankfulness is the faucet from which of all our true worship to God flows from and should be the cornerstone of all our prayers and praise, and in many ways, our entire life.
Let’s take a little extra time today to contemplate Paul’s instructions in the passage here, humbly asking the Lord for areas that we need to be more intentional about doing things in His holy name, and to reveal the things for which we need to be more thankful. For me, there are many, and likely by tonight there’ll be even more. To God be the glory as he daily refines us and strips away what is earthly in us to make us more like Christ our Lord.