Pray:
Ask God to orient or reorient you to himself. Confess any known sin. Thank him for his forgiveness. Be still and reflect on Jesus and his sacrifice for you. Ask the Holy Spirit to open your heart and mind to God’s word. Pray for others in your life that they too would know and love God today.
Read:
Col 3:17 17 And whatever you do or say, do it as a representative of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks through him to God the Father.
Understand:
In Colossians 3 we find Paul urging and instructing believers to fully embrace this new life in Christ. He tells us to set our hearts on things above and not the things of this world, worldly things only pull us away from God.
Instead we’re to clothe ourselves in Christ, we’re to put on his character. And know matter where we find ourselves, we’re to let the peace of God rule in our hearts, so that in whatever we do or say, we do it as God’s representative.
Notice the word “Whatever.” It means all, total, complete, all in its totality. So when Paul says “whatever” he’s saying there is no sacred-secular split in God’s eyes, He is sovereign over all. In other words, all that we do in word and in deed should all be done in the name of Jesus! It’s what we call “Living a single story life.”
We’re not to separate are lives into different compartments. We don’t have an upstairs life and a down stairs life. Our lives are not separated into work life, sports life, family life, hobby life, and then a spiritual life. We have but only one life, and it all belongs to Christ! HE is the one who has rescued us and set us free from the trapping of this world. Bring all of your life under the reign of Christ, be filled with thankfulness and gratitude, and praise the one who is worthy of praise!
Apply:
Ponder the first part of Col. 3:17, “Whatever you do or say.” Think about the different roles your life is made up of. Are there areas where you’ve allowed yourself to begin living a two story life?
What could you change to make your life a single story life?
How could you help other to lie a single story life?
What role does life in community play in living a single story life?
Live:
(Personalize this prayer for today, make it specific to the circumstances that face you.) Ask God to lead you through his Spirit as you go through your day. Ask him to bring to mind the truth of the gospel and its implications for what you will encounter today. Tell him “Yes” to his will today and ask him for his power and protection to live this “yes.” Ask him to create and reveal opportunities to proclaim the good news today. KEEP PRAYING THROUGHOUT YOUR DAY TODAY.