Knowing our King | Colossians 3:22-25 | Ye Serve The Lord

Colossians 3:22-25

Servants, obey in all things your masters according to the flesh; not with eyeservice, as menpleasers; but in singleness of heart, fearing God; And whatsoever ye do, do it heartily, as to the Lord, and not unto men; Knowing that of the Lord ye shall receive the reward of the inheritance: for ye serve the Lord Christ. But he that doeth wrong shall receive for the wrong which he hath done: and there is no respect of persons.

Unity with Christ not only shows itself in our relationships with brothers and sisters in Christ, nor just in the Christian home but in the Christian's relationships with those that are “without.” Chapter 3 has flown from union with Christ to unity with Christ, unity with Christians, unity with family, and now unity with even the people we work for, or who work for us. Our relationship with Jesus permeates every other relationship we have and there is not a time, place, or season when we get to take a break from being like him.

The Holy Ghost shows us what acceptable service is as an employee. “Not with eye services, as men pleasers; but in singleness of Heart, fearing God.” This reminds us of those verses of Scripture in Philippians 4 “Let your moderation be known unto all men. The Lord is at hand.” Our relationships outside the church and outside the home should be just as carefully guarded if not more so. “The Lord is at Hand!” Our brothers and sisters know what it is to have a bad day or week and understand the struggle we have with our flesh but to the outside world we are all that they see of Christ and we are ambassadors of our Lord and all of Christianity. I’m sure you’ve met people, as I have, that despised Christianity because all they knew of it was a co-worker who claimed to be a Christian but was the laziest on the job, or a “Christian” tenant who destroyed their property. Every relationship is important but those that are without should be especially guarded because “The Lord is at hand.” So closely guarded that we shouldn’t just serve to appease the men we are serving but we should serve so well that it not only passes their approval but the Lords. “Whatsoever you do, do it heartily, as unto the Lord, and not unto men.”

He then reveals the truth serving the authorities in our lives. We will be rewarded or judged according to how we serve them! We often think of the judgment seat as a time when we will be judged for how we served the Lord but these verses show us that our service to men is our service to the Lord, “For ye serve the Lord.” Do you remember what those people said in the Judgment? “Lord, when did we clothe you, or give you water or house you?” And He answered, “When you have done it unto the least of these you have done it unto me.” To the faithful worker who punches a clock day in and day out, be the best electrician you can be or the best mechanic. The truth is you are not their laborer you are His. More than we represent the company or man we work for, first of all, we represent Christ and Christianity as a whole.

There are many servants of Christ who long to serve him in a fuller capacity. Perhaps your heart longs to be free from the grind of the 9-5 and you want to spend your days doing something for eternity. This is a “Grass is greener on the other side” misconception used by the enemy to make you discontented. Serve him where you are, be his laborer, and look on the fields, they are white unto harvest! Your co-workers are watching you, let your walk match your talk and then your witness will have weight. God can do eternal things right where you are and you can have a ministry exactly where God has placed you. God is not judging according to quantity of service, or locale of service but faithfulness. Being a witness and guarding your own testimony, and the Church's and your Savior's name should be enough to encourage us to serve rightly but if it isn’t, set your eyes on the Judgment seat. You will be rewarded or suffer loss according to how you served the authorities in your life. I’ll leave you with a reminder from Romans 13:1 “Let every soul be subject unto the higher powers. For there is no power but of God: the powers that be are ordained of God.”