Seven words, in my NKJV. Seven words built out of just 20 letters . . . only 11 of those letters are unique . . . six of the seven words are comprised of only of two or three letters . . . one word is five letters long . . . none of these words is going to get you very far in a game of Scrabble . . . even on a triple-word score. I’m thinking that an English teacher would refer to these seven words as a “simple sentence” . . . then why am I struggling with it so much this morning?

I’m reading the latter part of 1Corinthians 10 and Paul seems to be wrapping up a thought he begun back in chapter 8 . . . a warning to not use our freedom in Christ to engage in some activity that might cause another brother or sister in Christ to stumble. Paul reminds these believers that while “all things are lawful, not all things are helpful . . . not all things edify” (10:23). Praise God for freedom in Christ . . . released from the “to do” and the “to don’t” list of religion, nothing is unclean if it is received with thanksgiving (1Tim. 4:3-5) . . . all things are lawful. But the mind of Christ requires that we apply a couple of other filters beyond the “can I do it?” filter . . . we need to ask “is it helpful?” . . . and we need to siphon it through the “will it build up?” filter as well. We are free to act . . . but not so free to act without being thoughtful. And that brings me to another “filter” . . . to my “simple sentence” . . .

Do all to the glory of God.

“Therefore, whether you eat or drink, or whatever you do, do all to the glory of God.” (1Cor. 10:31)

Seven words . . . made up of just 11 different letters . . . but seven words that are “living and powerful, and sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing even to the division of soul and spirit, and of joints and marrow, and are a discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart” (Heb. 4:12).

A “simple sentence” that makes me squirm . . . that shines a light on my activities . . . ALL my activities. I think that’s what gets me the most . . . it’s the “whatever you do” and the “do all” parts of this verse that end up setting this bar so high for me. I might think that I do some stuff for the glory of God . . . I might even think that I do a lot of what I do, to the glory of God . . . but to say that I consciously seek to “do all to the glory of God”? . . . don’t know that can I honestly go there . . . yet.

It’s these sorts of “commands to obey” that remind me how much I am still a work in progress and how much I need to yield to the Spirit’s program of conforming me to the image of Christ. Oh, that the mind of Christ might form in me more fully, so that I would not be consumed with seeking my own good, but the good of others (1Cor 10:24) . . . that I would not seek that which is to my profit, but to “the profit of many, that they may be saved” (10:33). That, out of a desire to do all for the glory of God, I would put up no stumbling block or offense, “either to the Jews, or to the Greeks, or to the church of God” (kinda’ covers everyone, doesn’t it?).

Praise God, that it’s not an “all or nothing” thing . . . that God’s ok with us being a “work in progress” . . . that God’s spurring us on to “run the race” . . . that, by His grace, He’s enabling us to think and act more like His Son. But while it may not be an “all or nothing” thing, I can’t “dumb it down” and make it less than an “all” thing . . . I can’t ignore those twenty letters. Though they’re not going to get me a win in Scrabble, these seven words . . . this simple sentence . . . defines a “win” in God’s sight . . . oh, that I might, more and more, do all to the glory of God . . . amen.