In His Steps

On Jesus birthday, I'd like to share the following:

Have you seen kids wearing bracelets with the initials WWJD— "What Would Jesus Do?" The story behind those bracelets begins a century ago, when a minister named Charles Sheldon wrote a novel titled In His Steps. One Sunday morning at First Church, Pastor Henry Maxwell is preaching a sermon about how to follow Christ's example of sacrificial love.

The service is suddenly interrupted when a tramp stands up. He's been out of work for a year, he says, yet not one person in town has helped him find another job. Twisting his shabby hat in his hands, the tramps says, "I was wondering if what you call following Jesus is the same thing as what he taught.…I get puzzled when I see so many Christians living in luxury and remember how my wife died in a tenement.…what would Jesus do?" At that point, to the congregation's horror, the tramp collapses and dies.

The following Sunday, the minister makes a stunning proposal: He's looking for volunteers willing to pledge themselves for an entire year to do nothing without first asking, "What would Jesus do?" Some fifty people make the pledge, and a remarkable series of events begins.

Some of these people pay a high price for their obedience. But they also learn the joy of following faithfully in his footsteps.

A few years ago, a Holland, Michigan youth leader was so inspired by this classic story that she had bracelets made bearing the letters WWJD and gave them to the kids in her church. The idea caught fire, and today millions wear them.

Adapted from How Now Shall We Live? Devotional by Charles Colson (Tyndale) pp 585-86.

Content is derived from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation and other publications of Tyndale Publishing House.

This devotion complements the book I'm currently reading: What Matters Most, by Tony Evans. Subtitle: Four Absolute Necessities In Following Christ.