Wijd

Wijd

Through him you Gentiles are also being made part of this dwelling where God lives by his Spirit.

Ephesians 2:22, NLT

IN WORD It’s not quite as catchy, and you won’t find any bracelets or bumper stickers with the acronym WIJD on them. But it perhaps asks a better question than its more familiar counterpart. “What would Jesus do?” is a good question, but it doesn’t have life. The heart of the matter is similar, but more pointed: “What is Jesus doing?”

The WWJD phenomenon has turned the attention of millions toward the character and works of our Savior, so it is certainly a useful question to consider. But there’s a subtle implication in it: Jesus is our example, a teacher who lived long ago whom we are left to emulate. In a sense, that’s true. Jesus is our example: “Be imitators of God . . . and live a life of love, just as Christ loved us,” we’re told (Ephesians 5:1-2). There’s more, however: “If a man remains in me and I in him, he will bear much fruit” (John 15:5). “I no longer live, but Christ lives in me” (Galatians 2:20). We don’t just have an example, we have an Inhabitant. There’s a world of difference.

IN DEED Do you see Jesus as your example or as your life? He is both, but asking the question is more than a matter of simple semantics. It will profoundly affect how we approach every day, every decision, every act of character or impulse of the heart. If we see ourselves as imitators of the divine Example, we will find ourselves failing often and growing ever more frustrated with our inability to live as He did. But if we see ourselves as vessels in which the Spirit of the living God dwells, we’re inclined not to try harder but to trust more.

So what would Jesus do? We should ask this; He is the way. What would He think? We should also ask this; He is the truth. And what is He doing? We should especially ask this; He is the life. No one comes to the Father except by Him. Not just by His example, but by His life. He indwells us to take us where we should go and lead us away from where we’ve been. It’s an amazing thought: We live by means of a living Lord.

One person works upon another person from outside inwards, but God alone comes to us from within outwards.

—JAN VAN RUYSBROECK