Saturday, September 21, 2013

Doing what Jesus does

One of the inscriptions you can find on Christian items is the acronym "WWJD?" This, of course, is short for "What would Jesus do?" This question was posed in Charles Sheldon's novel In His Steps many years ago. While it has become a bit of cliche, it really isn't a bad question to ask. The point made in the book is that you aren't asking what Jesus would do if He were here on earth today, but what would He do if He were in your situation.

However, there is one example in the Bible of something we can do that is what Jesus is doing now. We studied 1 Timothy 2:1-5 this past Wednesday at our church, and I was struck by the juxtaposition of Paul's urging that Christians should intercede for others with the description of Jesus in verse 5 as the "one mediator between God and man." In several NT passages, Jesus is said to be interceding for us before His Father. He is a "go-between" on our behalf, as the One who paid the price that gave us access to the Father's throne.

In a more limited sense, we are told in this passage to be a "go-between" for others in prayer. We obviously are not the ones who provide the answers for those prayers (although God may use us as His agents to affect those answers!), but we do have a responsibility to pray for others. Whether it is those in authority, those who need to know Jesus Christ, or those who are suffering, we have the remarkable privilege of sharing in a very small part of the ministry of intercession practiced by Jesus.

Today maybe we need to ask ourselves not "What would Jesus do?" but "What is Jesus doing?" Then we can let that thought spur us on to engaging in prayer for those who need our intercession, and learn to appreciate what our Lord is doing for us.

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