In 1896 the Kansas Congregational minister Charles Sheldon published a novel called, “In His Steps: What would Jesus do?”
The novel tells how a town is revolutionized when Christians “pledge themselves, earnestly and honestly for an entire year, not to do anything without first asking the question, ‘What would Jesus do?’”
The first publisher made a mistake and the book was never covered by copyright.
As a result Charles’ book was sold cheaply by many publishers.
What would seem like a bad thing turned out for good.
God caused the book to sell over 30 million copies, this made it one of the top 50 books ever sold.
Out of all the people that read this book, it was Janie Tinklenberg who caused this phrase to go viral.
She was a youth leader at Calvary Reformed Church in Holland, Michigan.
In 1989, almost 100 years after this book had been written, she talked to her youth group about it.
At the time friendship bracelets were very popular. She contacted a local company to print 300 bracelets.
She chose to simplify the phrase to the now know acronym, WWJD.
Tinklenberg asked the group to wear them for 30 days.
Today around the world this small bracelet is still being used by believers.
Growth doesn’t always happen overnight.
Sometimes even a mistake in publishing can result in something great.
Ultimately, God is glorified.
Never despise small beginnings. Whenever you go to the gym, don’t think your time and work is insignificant.
Every time you lift a weight you are adding muscle to your body. When repetition and commitment to this is applied, we can see great results.
Spiritually, God desires us to be committed to Spiritual exercise. Every time we pray, read God’s Word, teach a Scripture, or even wear a WWJD bracelet, we are making a difference for this world.
The Apostle Paul told the Church in Corinth, “Imitate me, as I also imitate Christ.” (1 Corinthians 11:1) (HCSB).
Let’s have this attitude and ask ourselves, WHJD, what has Jesus done?
We can first know God’s heart by seeing what He has done from His word.
When a small group began to wear this bracelet, the phrase became popular.
This shows that people want to imitate people. This is just the reality.
This can be a problem if someone is imitates the bad character of a leader.
Yet we know this is what people do, let’s begin as the body of Christ, to be imitators of Christ. Let’s do what Jesus does.
Let’s speak what Jesus speaks. And let’s think like Jesus!
