Many of us are familiar with the promoted acronym: WWJD. For those who don’t, it stands for “What Would Jesus Do?”; it is a reminder for those who wear bracelets or accessories with the simple saying to consider their actions and decide if they are Christlike in nature. I’ve been reflecting on this saying and find it very catchy. It really gets to the point about a Christian’s journey seeking the path that Jesus has laid down for us to follow. On the other hand, in a post on “Eventful Journey“, a blogger makes an apt statement about the WWJD sentiment when he wrote:

Recently I have been rephrasing the bracelet: What WILL Jesus Do? This seems a much better way of looking at things. Jesus is not absent. Nor is he waiting to see if, through our own efforts, we can live up to his enormous expectations. Instead, he is in us, working through us by the same Holy Spirit that raised him from the dead (Romans 8:11). We are co-workers with him, not second-rate replacements for him. I have found this new way of thinking profoundly liberating.

I like that thinking because I agree that Jesus is NOT absent at all throughout our lives, our trials and our struggles. On the contrary, He is guiding our every action and gently leading the way. WWJD (What Would Jesus Do) is a nice sentiment, but to some people who consider its nuance will realize that the saying pits each of us alone at a crossroads, faced with decisions that are eminently beyond our ability to handle. As Jesus said in John 14:6: “no one comes to the Father except through me.” Our lives as Christians isn’t about rediscovering some hidden formula or path behind the life Jesus led on earth. It’s in finding Jesus Himself within the things that we pursue and the things that we do. So, where is Jesus? As in the beautiful poem about the footprints in the sand, we continue our life’s journey not alone and falling behind a trail Jesus has left behind. Instead we are right there, side by side with Jesus through whom we find our way to the heavenly Father.