W.W.J.D.
Tidbit Text: "Circumcise yourselves to the Lord, circumcise your
hearts, you men of Judah and people of Jerusalem. . . ." Jeremiah 4:4
(NIV)
We’ve all seen the WWJD (What Would Jesus Do) shirts, key chains, hats, etc.
These items are sometimes purchased as an outward show of allegiance to the
Lord; however on many occasions they are purchased because unfortunately, for
some people, they have become a fad.
In this week’s tidbit text we take a look at the prophet Jeremiah as he
addresses a very similar situation. The Jews had adopted circumcision for all
male babies as a holy and outward sign that they were committed to serving God.
However, as time passed on this act became more of a tradition–or the status
quo.
The Lord spoke through Jeremiah to the men of Judah and all the people of
Jerusalem. He pointed out that they should circumcise themselves unto the Lord
by circumcising their hearts. Their change needed to take place on the inside,
not on the outside. Not only that but in this same verse the Lord warned the
people that if they continued their behavior, He would punish them —
SEVERELY: "Or my wrath will break out and burn like fire because of the
evil you have done – burn with no one to quench it."
God does not want or need our phoney acts—-we need to be hot not cold,
sincere not insincere. It doesn’t matter what we do to our bodies or what we
wear; if our hearts are not changed toward the Lord, our outward acts of
allegiance are just that – ACTS. Therefore, BEFORE we put on the WWJD (or any
other paraphernalia) we need to actually commit to doing What Jesus Would Do.
More important, we need to ask ourselves, "if no one else wore the WWJD
would I? Will I stand for Jesus when no one else stands?" The Lord prefers
that we wear His name on our hearts before we wear it on our chests. As one
commercial states, "The quality should go IN before the name goes ON."