Christian Reflection and Prayer

SACRIFICIAL LOVE

God is always ready to help
us and expects us to help
others

Scripture:

"Don't forget to do good
and to share what you
have with those in need,
for such sacrifices are
very pleasing to God."
Hebrews 13:16 NLT

In His steps

"Have you seen kids
wearing bracelets with
the initials WWJD—
"What Would Jesus Do?"
The story behind those
bracelets begins a century
ago, when a minister
named Charles Sheldon
wrote a novel titled In His
Steps. One Sunday morning
at First Church, Pastor
Henry Maxwell is preaching
a sermon about how to follow
Christ's example of sacrificial
love.

The service is suddenly i
nterrupted when a tramp
stands up. He's been out
of work for a year, he says,
yet not one person in town
has helped him find another
job. Twisting his shabby hat
in his hands, the tramps says,
"I was wondering if what you
call following Jesus is the
same thing as what he taught.…
I get puzzled when I see so
many Christians living in luxury
and remember how my wife
died in a tenement.…what
would Jesus do?" At that point,
to the congregation's horror,
the tramp collapses and dies.

The following Sunday, the
minister makes a stunning
proposal: He's looking for
volunteers willing to pledge
themselves for an entire year
to do nothing without first
asking, "What would Jesus
do?" Some fifty people make
the pledge, and a remarkable
series of events begins.

Some of these people pay a
high price for their obedience.
But they also learn the joy of
following faithfully in his footsteps.

A few years ago, a Holland,
Michigan, youth leader was
so inspired by this classic
story that she had bracelets
made bearing the letters WWJD
and gave them to the kids in her
church. The idea caught fire, and
today millions wear them.

adapted from How Now Shall We
Live? Devotional by Charles Colson
(Tyndale) pp 585-86