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Using WWJD To Beg
The acronym WWJD was very popular
for many years. It stands for, “What Would Jesus Do?”
and still finds itself etched on billboards, sidewalks, t-shirts and
begging placards. A man standing at a busy intersection asking for
donation (homeless, helpless, hopeless) had under his plea WWJD. It is
not so much the matter of the man’s condition but the commentary on how
easy it is for people to use the name of God in their own vain pursuits.
The question posed by WWJD evokes an emotion of responding to the
example of Jesus Christ. Peter declares the Lord “suffered for you,
leaving you an example, that you should follow
in his steps” (1 Peter 2:21). Paul admonished the Corinthians to
“be imitators of me, as I am of Christ” (1 Corinthians 11:1). Our
lives should be in conformity to the pattern that Jesus set forth and
become the image of the Son of God (Romans 8:29). Our minds are
to be as the mind of Christ (Philippians 2:5).
Our challenge in seeking the use of an acronym is to abide by the
meaning of what we say. John declared in 1 John 2:3-6: “And by this
we may be sure that we know him, if we keep his commandments. He who
says, ‘I know him’ but disobeys his commandments is a liar, and the
truth is not in him; but whoever keeps his word, in him truly love for
God is perfected. By this we may be sure that we are in him: he who says
he abides in him ought to walk in the same way in which he walked.”
To ask the blessing of Jesus Christ to guide our lives by His example we
have to be willing to keep his laws. When we use His name for our mantra
of faith, we must be willing to live by the precepts He has established
in the gospel. To say that we “know” Jesus and yet fail to live by His
will, we are liars.
The man on the street corner was seeking sympathy from passersby by
using the name of Jesus Christ. Was he willing to do the will of God to
receive those blessings? Did not Paul write in 2 Thessalonians 3:10,
“If any one will not work, let him not eat”? From the wisdom
literature we learn “The soul of the sluggard craves, and gets
nothing, while the soul of the diligent is richly supplied ... The
sluggard does not plow in the autumn; he will seek at harvest and have
nothing” (Proverbs 13:4; 20:4). Seeking the blessing of God using
His name for ones personal gain is using the name of God in vain. The
application of Deuteronomy 5:11 still holds true today: "You
shall not take the name of the LORD your God in vain: for the LORD will
not hold him guiltless who takes his name in vain.”
Often we find men seeking the blessings of God’s name without the
willingness to follow the commandments. We can be sure that we are in a
covenant relationship with the Lord when we keep His word and walk in
the same way in which He walked. Without this, we cannot receive the
blessings from God. The Lord should not be treated as the giant vending
machine in the sky that when we need His blessings we deposit our
quarters of vain pursuits and expect the bounty of His blessings to come
upon us.
Men are heard to say they are Christians but by their lives fail to
live with the pattern of Christ in the hearts. Being a Christian is more
than a name–it is a way of life. To live outside the law of God, failing
to keep the commandments of Christ, refusing to submit to the will of
the Lord and yet think that Jehovah will bless them is the height of
arrogance and ignorance. Without obedience to the will of God salvation
cannot be found. "Not every one who says to me, 'Lord, Lord,' shall
enter the kingdom of heaven, but he who does the will of my Father who
is in heaven. On that day many will say to me, 'Lord, Lord, did we not
prophesy in your name, and cast out demons in your name, and do many
mighty works in your name?' And then will I declare to them, 'I never
knew you; depart from me, you evildoers’” (Matthew 7:21-23).
----Kent Heaton
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