A Prayer for Doing Everything As Unto the Lord
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By Scotty Smith About Sanctification & Growth
Whatever you do, work heartily, as for the Lord and not for men, knowing that from the Lord you will receive the inheritance as your reward. You are serving the Lord Christ. Col. 3:23-24
Dear Lord Jesus, I begin this day profoundly grateful for your already finished work, and your relentlessly redemptive, never-ceasing work in my heart. You never sleep; you never slumber. And you don’t just give us sleep; you also give to us in our sleep. You’re the only reason that one Day I will be free from all sin, and as lovely and loving as you are (1 Jn. 3:1-3). Bring on that Day!
Oh, the tremendous hope this gives me—the invigorating, liberating, consecrating hope this generates as I begin my day. It’s why the admonition from Paul in this Scripture feels more like a kiss than a kick. I want to work more heartily at all things because of your finished work on the cross, your present work in the world, and your future work in the new heaven and new earth. Even in eternity you will shepherd us and lead us to springs of living water (Rev. 7:17). No one will ever out-serve you, Lord Jesus.
Therefore, here’s my cry: Continue to free me from doing anything for the approval of people, out of the fear of people, or to gain power over people. I work for you, Lord Jesus, not for mere men. Free me for doing all things as unto you: Loving my wife without manipulation, doing my job without self-congratulation, and serving your people without unrealistic expectations, to name a few.
How I praise you, Lord Jesus, that the gospel is the end of any sense of a wage-earning, merit-accruing, advantage-producing relationship with God. I work for you because you first worked for me. What a humbling, staggering, and astonishing truth! I serve you because you ever live to serve me, as my advocate and intercessor. Indeed, I love you because you first loved me and gave yourself as a propitiation for my sins. You are always first and last—the Alpha and the Omega.
I’ll receive an inheritance only because of your finished work, not mine. And should I receive any rewards or crowns, they will be thrown at your feet, giving credit where credit is due (Rev. 4:10). So very Amen I pray, in your quintessentially glorious name.
