Everything You Do

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One of my favorite songs by Steven Curtis Chapman is one of those songs you just love to sing along with. Called “Do Everything,” the chorus goes like this:

Well, let me remind you, it all matters just as long
As you do everything you do to the glory of the One who made you,
‘Cause He made you,
To do
Every little thing that you do
To bring a smile to His face
Tell the story of grace
With every move that you make
And every little thing you do.

The theme of the song is simple: Do everything that you do, whether it’s on the job on in your daily life, for the glory of God. We do a lot in our lives. We are all called to certain careers and chores that we often fail to see as necessary to the Kingdom. We live in a world where some jobs are seen as more important than others, but this is not how it is meant to be. God tells us differently. In Paul’s letter to the Colossians, he writes these words: Whatever you do, whether in speech or action, do it all in the name of the Lord Jesus and give thanks to God the Father through him. (Colossians 3:17, CEB).

It would be easy to read those words and think Paul is talking about worship. When we worship of course we do it to the glory of God and give thanks to Him. But what about those other times in our lives, the hours that make up our days and months and years? Do we give thanks then? The verse begins with “Whatever you do”; that means everything we do: work, leisure, church, home. In everything give glory to God and thank Him for all He does in our lives.

This is not always easy. For instance, one of my jobs each night is to clean out the cat’s litter box. It is a thankless job. It is a smelly job. I used to spend my entire evening dreading it. Then one day, I timed myself and realized it took less than two minutes to do. Two minutes to make the cat comfortable (and we all know how important that is) and to help keep our house cleaner.  

How do you find glory in that job? It is in our attitude where we find the glory; it is not in the job itself but how we perceive it. We can do all things to God’s glory if we are first of all focused on Him. No matter the situation, our lives are a gift from God and when we use those lives to praise Him, even in the little things, we give Him glory. Does your life glorify God?

Today is a holiday we call Labor Day. It is a day when we celebrate work; the problem, however, is how we define work. Too many people find distaste in their work. Surveys show that most people do not enjoy their jobs but only do it for the money or retirement or the benefits. How sad it that?

Martin Luther King, Jr., had these words to say about our labors: “If a man is called to be a street sweeper, he should sweep streets even as a Michelangelo painted, or Beethoven composed music, or Shakespeare wrote poetry. He should sweep streets so well that all the hosts of heaven and earth will pause to say, ‘Here lived a great street sweeper who did his job well.’”

Wow! What a call to you and I. Do we do our jobs so well that the angels of heaven exclaim at a job well done? Why do we so dread Mondays and the return to work? If we were truly glorifying God with our work, shouldn’t we be so pumped to go to work that no one could hold us back? If we are to work in the name of the Lord, shouldn’t we be putting everything we have into it? The answer is definitely! Wouldn’t you be pleased to know that you had brought a smile to the face of God? That the people around you could see God in your actions?

This Labor Day I hope you will take a different look at not only your job but your life. Think about how much of it you spend complaining versus how much of it you spend praising the One who made you. Learn to do everything, not matter how trivial you consider it, to be pleasing to God and give Him glory. Can’t you just see God smiling?