WWJD ?

What Would Jesus Do!?

God, I get sick of hearing that expression!

How arrogant is it to think that we pitiful, sinful mortals have the same options available to us as those available to the embodiment of our creator!?! How self-righteous is it to think that we could ever come close to meeting the standard set by our savior!?! How petty is it to slap on a bumper sticker, or pin on a button and assume we can begin to understand the innermost thoughts of anyone else, let alone Jesus himself!?!

Jesus was sent to suffer and die a horrible death precisely because we are unable to do what Jesus would do. He was fully human yet fully God. Subject to all the same temptations and weaknesses that make us human, yet with strength of will that allowed him to overcome those temptations and weaknesses in a way that we could never even begin to understand.

But even that misses the mark entirely, because, ultimately, it’s not about what Jesus did or didn’t do. The message of Jesus is one of a God that so loves us that He wanted to understand what we go through in our efforts to be good people. He wanted to understand what is like to suffer the temptations and weaknesses that will always keep us children in His eyes. Like any children, we need a Father to watch over us, and guide us for sure, but most importantly, as children we need to be assured beyond any doubt that we are loved unconditionally. That’s the message of Jesus.

Jesus loves me this I know, for the bible tells me so.

This I KNOW…not this I “believe” or this I “hope”.

Through the sacrifice of Jesus, we know that God accepts us for whom we are, and loves us all despite our weaknesses, our doubts and our petty fears and insecurities. It is a love that cannot be earned, and cannot be taken away, no matter what. It is the love of a parent for the child that they bore, that they named, that they raised up and that will forever be their own flesh and blood.

We are the children of an awesome God.

Now…knowing that…the real question is: What Will I Do?