Well, hello and welcome to Walking With Christ. My name is Jeremy, and I really appreciate you joining me today. This is an expository-style devotional series where we go verse by verse, chapter by chapter, and we seek not only to understand God's Word just a little bit better, but to apply it and to let it shape how we live, think, and walk with Christ each day. Today in our study of Colossians, we'll be looking at chapter 3, verse 17, and we'll be reading from the ESV, and we'll be seeing the importance of doing everything in the name of the Lord Jesus, and also how being thankful impacts our walk with Christ. Again, that's Colossians 3, verse 17. So, to recap where we are in this chapter, 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 be considered a concise summary of everything he wrote so far. He says, 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. This is one of those rare 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 is truly beautiful. And what we see here is that whether we are at work or at play, having a good day or a bad day, singing a song or attending an office meeting, doing the dishes or serving at church, whatever we happen to be doing, we should be doing everything in the name of the Lord Jesus. Paul's command leaves no exclusions. The Greek word used for everything, paz, literally means all things. So 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 verse 49, Jesus 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 verse 4, Jesus 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 our 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. And 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 we should find ourselves more focused on heavenly things, as Paul taught us to do back in Colossians 3 verse 1. Consider this mindset and how it could transform our walk with Christ. Our work ethic improves. We avoid doing shoddy work and cutting corners because we are instead doing it as though we are serving the Lord. And we'll dive more into this in Colossians 3 verse 23. Our relationships improve. We watch our tongue more closely and avoid using language that is cruel or unbecoming of a believer. Our spiritual health improves, because we stay focused on God's will as we ponder if what we are doing is truly important, helpful, edifying, or even generally appropriate. and our worship improves. As this mentality is implemented into our daily behaviors, we more purely honor God with our work, words, and actions. Now, we are not perfect, and I'm the first one here 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 then 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 then try to use it like a filter for life, sifting our actions and words to be more of 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 give thanks to God the Father through Christ. Paul really drives home the importance of a sincerely thankful heart. I could even argue that thanksgiving underpins this entire book, which makes me wonder if a papyrus told Paul that 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 rather ironically, when we have more than we need. Consider what Paul wrote in Romans 1 verse 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 that follow this, Romans 1 verse 22-32, show the eternal consequences that stem from a heart that refuses to honor God and lives in a spirit of ungratefulness, so we absolutely 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 all of our true worship to God flows from, and it should really be the cornerstone of all of our prayers and praise to Him, and in many ways, the cornerstone of our entire life. So today, let's take a little extra time 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, I know there are many, and probably by tonight there'll be even more. To God be the glory as He daily refines us and He strips away what is earthly in us to make us more like His Son, the Lord Jesus Christ. Well, thank you for spending these few minutes in God's Word with me today. I do hope you were blessed by it. As you go about the rest of your day, please remember the words Paul wrote in Colossians 2, verse 6. Therefore, as you received Christ Jesus the Lord, so walk in Him. Have a blessed day.