Whatever Happen to WWJD?

I am wondering if many in the religious community are not about as committed to the Kingdom of God as they were to the WWJD movement we experienced several years ago. Maybe the bans we all wore kept turning our arms black, or maybe everybody just developed rashes or couldn't find new ones when you could read the letters anymore. I really think the very thought of doing what Jesus would do hit a little to close to home and we didn't want to keep the ban we wore so close we were constantly reminded of what Jesus really would do.

Right there on our arm, easily seen, was way too much of a reminder when you were wearing it 24/7. It was right there when you passed a hungry parent and child sitting near an overpass, and how could you avoid seeing it when the appeal for contributions to Free Clinics and Youth Sports in poor neighborhoods kept coming in the mail. God knows we do not need to be constantly reminded of the unchurched and lost when we see them everyday, and anyway we know somebody will surely take care of them and I have too much on my plate already.

Even so, I can imagine the smile on Gods' face when the fad was first hatched. Finally, I can see him thinking, they have read John 14:15, “If you love me, obey my commandments”. “What a perfectly great way to always be aware of Jesus directions and message until it becomes ingrained into their very being and nature”, I can hear him bragging to the angels around him.

On the other side (the Dark Side) the Devil called an emergency meeting in a panic, thinking of all those professing to be Christian being constantly motivated to do what Jesus would want them to do. The Devil listen to all the recommendation from his advisers: get some big name celebrities to make fun of it, cause the rash or turn the arms black were possibilities strongly supported in this meeting of the Dark Council. But after all the discussions and the Devil thinking about it for a time, he calmed down and made the final decision. “We won't do anything for several months”, he decreed. “I think this bunch will drop it on their own”, he told the minor devils. “It's a lot easier to simply let nature take its course”, the old Evil One opined. “Saying you want to do what Jesus would do is a lot easier than actually doing what Jesus would do, all we need to do is to be sure these ban wearers have other things to do and and other stuff on their minds. Pretty soon it will just go out of fashion, something new and shinny will come along and the pressure will be too much and they will drop it on their own.”

Sure enough the second run by the manufacturer never sold. Doing 'WHAT JESUS WOULD DO' was soon replaced by another trend of the day. Another trendy arm/wrist ban became the rage. Here in Alabama it was replaced by 'ROLL TIDE' and 'WAR EAGLE' wrist bans and car tags. GOD was disappointed but like any other parent when a good habit is replaced by one not so good, he just kept loving us and waiting until the good became something written on our hearts and not on a novelty wrist ban.

WWJD

NOT BUILDING AN ARK

Well I have finished 'Daniel' and found it to be a tremendous read. Full of so many great lessons for life I never really thought about or considered before now.

I have started John and again I am discovering a lot more than I remembered being in there. I actually found something that has worked on me for a couple of days and even got into my early morning sleep time.

In Chapter 9, John recounts one of the occasions where Jesus heals a blind man. Jesus encountered the man as he walked along with his disciples. The disciples ask him “why was this man born blind? Was it a result of his own sins or those of his parents?” (v.2) Jesus reply told me something I had overlooked all these years. I expected the initial part of his response because of my personal beliefs, “It was not because of his sins or his parents' sins”, Jesus answered (v.3) I was pretty good with that and apparently had mostly stopped reading at that point over the years. The new message came in what followed which I am sure I had read over the years but never really paid much attention to. Jesus went on to say, “He was born blind so the power of God could be seen in him.” (v.3)

I, as I believe most people, have always tried to identify with the named characters in the Bible. I've tried to see myself as representing those whose great faith was used to illustrate God's faithfulness. While I never thought of myself as an Abraham, Noah, Moses, a disciple, Paul or any other first teamer, it was natural to me to dream or think my role was to be more like one of these great men of faith.

My new revelation was that while those are all great role models to aspire to be more like, my more practical role is to be more like the blind man who was given sight for the first time in his life by Jesus.

My role is to be an example of the power of God that others can see in my life. I am simply a human, flawed and sinful by nature. It's through and by the 'power of God' only that I can be save to eternal life and be in a personal relationship with my Creator.

I will never be called to sacrifice my son or to build an ark. I'll never write a book to be included in the Bible or walk in a fiery furnace, but I will be a full blown child of God only by his 'power'. If the product of that power can be seen by others in me that is really enough.