In Jesus Name I... Do Everything!

(Colossians 3:17) And whatsoever ye do in word or deed, do all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God and the Father by him.

This verse was in my Bible reading this week. I have read in many times before, and would probably have been able to quote it to you before I read it this morning. But it jumped out at me because it contained that phrase, "in the name of the Lord Jesus." I still haven't quite figured out why, but people keep searching on Google for the phrase - "In Jesus name we pray" or other close searches like "what is it to pray in Jesus name," and other very similar phrases. I actually looked and for the past 10 weeks, I have had at least one search come to my blog that was looking for that phrase, with as many as up to 4 a week! To me, that's amazing. Original Post here.

So, as I was reading this week, and I came across this verse, I realized that it says, "And whatosever ye do in word or deed..." We are not only supposed to pray in Jesus' name, but we are supposed to DO everything in Jesus name. Well, at least whatever I do in word or deed. That is, whatever I say or do, ought to be said in Jesus' name or done in Jesus' name.

We go back and ask the question: What is it to "do" something in the name of Jesus? Well, in my previous post about praying in Jesus name, I said how it means we do it with the authority of Jesus. As in, "Stop, in the name of the law" - we are claiming the authority of the law when we tell that person to stop. We do things with the authority of, and in the place of, somebody else, when we do something in their name.

To "DO" everything in the name of Jesus means that we only do what Jesus Approves of. When we sin, we cannot claim to be doing that in the name of Jesus. That would pretty much be blaspheming His name, I think... We are supposed to DO only those things which Jesus would approve of us doing, those things which we can honestly assume that Jesus would do - I mean, we are the body of Christ, we are supposed to manifest His life in our bodies (2 Corinthians 4:10).

Here's one to ponder. In Jesus name, means in His stead. As if Jesus were doing it. I should be able to say, I am doing in Jesus' stead. I am writing this post right now, in Jesus' stead - I am doing it for Him. I am at work today in the place of Jesus, so that I can provide substance for my family. I go to church in Jesus' stead - He did it when He was alive on the earth. I guess it goes along with the concept of WWJD - What Would Jesus Do? That is truly what we are supposed to do.

So, for every action today can you say, "I Do This in Jesus' Name?" Think about that the next time you sit down to watch something on TV - the next time you are considering saying something about somebody else - the next time you are talking with your spouse...

Just a thought...