Jesus Still Does What He Did

What Did Jesus Do?

“Whatever you ask in my name, this I will do...
If you ask me anything in my name, I will do it.”
John 14.13-14

I am always asking “What Did Jesus Do,” and offering answers from Scripture. In truth, though most times I do not make it explicit enough, there is another question I hope all of us ask ourselves each morning. For it is not enough to be well-informed about what Jesus did—all that does is make us historians. In order for us to be Christ's disciples we have to ask, and not rhetorically, “What will Jesus do today in and through me?”

Being a Christian is not about speculation, or spectating. We cannot be religious bystanders in the world, idlers who wax eloquent on what Jesus did, while we ourselves do, well, little more than look back nostalgically on the sacred past and ahead longingly to the glorious future. In short, the Father has not called any of us to be merely listeners to, reciters of, and meditators on the Word. We are called in Christ, the Living Word, to be doers of the Word (See James 1.22-25). Christian disciples are not just followers of a teacher, we are vessels of the Lord, living stones (1Peter 2.4-5) in and through whom Christ continues to work, to build the Father's spiritual household.

Now, if we begin to ask each morning asking, “What will Jesus do today in and through me,” it follows that every evening we should look back upon the day and ask, “What has Jesus done today in and through me?” If we ignore these two questions it really doesn't matter if we are well informed about what Scripture teaches about what Jesus did. How tragic is this, considering all that Jesus promised to do in, through, and for those who ask.

Think about this. What kind of country would the U.S.A. be if its citizens merely studied its history and never sought to actively live out their heritage? Oops! Very few Americans are literate about our nation's history, and even fewer responsibly seek to live after the example of the founders and builders of this land. Actually, the condition of this country is parallel to that of much of the Church in North America. We are largely ignorant and apathetic both as Americans and as Christians. Nearly fifty years ago President Kennedy challenged Americans to “ask not what your country can to for you—ask what you can do for your country.” Far too few of us, who like to think of ourselves as Americans, have heeded that call. And far too many folks, who like to think of themselves as Christian, ever bother to ask the essential questions of faithful disciples.

It is till pretty early in 2001, just one week down with fifty-one to go. What do you say about all of us, you and me, covenanting to daily ask every morning,“What will Jesus do” and, reviewing our day in the evening, “What has Jesus done”? For my part, I am going to get myself a blank book to record my daily questions and answers. I will also commit, if you pass along your requests, to pray for you as you seek to intentionally put yourselves in the hands of the Master Builder of all things. And, if you care to share what Jesus is doing in and through you, with permission I will pass it on to all who this ministry connects with.

May Jesus do in us all what he has always done, the will of the Father, for the good of the Father's children, to the Father's eternal glory!

S.D.G.

Jim
www.jimwilkenministries.org
Marion, NC
PS 37.4