What Did Jesus Say?

Colossians 3:16 – 17 (NIV) “Let the words of Christ, in all their richness, live in your hearts and make you wise.  Use his words to teach and counsel each other.  Sing psalms and hymns and spiritual songs to God with thankful hearts.  And whatever you do or say, let it be as a representative of the Lord Jesus.”

Many years ago, a popular saying among Christians was,  ”What Would Jesus Do?”  This little question was shortened to WWJD and put on bracelets, t-shirts, hats, buttons and other items with the intent of reminding us to be a representative of Jesus in our actions and words.  There’s no doubt that it helped Christians to rethink some things and maybe even redo something that was not right, but mere letters on a bracelet are a short lived solution to being a representative of Jesus Christ. 

Here, Paul encourages us to first, have the words of Jesus living in our inner most being, our heart.  This would be more than just wearing a popular acronym on our wrist, it would be allowing the Word of God to be our way of life.  Notice he says also that those words will make us wise, or in other words, will help us make wise choices.  There are times when we may need a bracelet with the letters WDJS on it (What Did Jesus Say?) before we made certain decisions and choices, so that we would stop, pray and listen to Him before we acted.

“Use his words to teach and counsel each other”.  Too often, we offer advice to others that is simply our opinions, when our opinions will never have the power to help someone as much as the words of Jesus, especially when a friend or coworker is facing a serious dilemma in life.  Jesus was always loaded with just the right thing to say when he encountered someone who was in a desperate situation.  Of course, it was not because he was so smart, but because he was always led by the Holy Spirit.  Jesus told his disciples that it was expedient for him to go to the Father, so that the Holy Spirit could come.  The same Holy Spirit that guided Jesus, is in every Christian, to the measure that we yield to him and allow him to direct and guide our lives.  He will always show us truth and lead us in the paths of righteousness.  He will give us the words to say when the time is needed and will reveal to us when that time is right.  Luke 12:12 (NIV)  “for the Holy Spirit will teach you at that time what you should say.”  John 16:13 (NIV) “But when he, the Spirit of truth, comes, he will guide you into all truth.  He will not speak on his own; he will speak only what he hears, and he will tell you what is yet to come.”

“Sing psalms and hymns and spiritual songs to God with thankful hearts.”  That reminds me of a little song we used to sing in the early days of our Christian walk.  A close minister friend of ours calls these types of songs “Kitchen Choruses” since we would gather in each other’s homes and study the Bible together, many times at the kitchen table, and sing choruses to the Lord.  This one goes like this…

I’ve got a river of life flowing out of me

Makes the lame to walk and the blind to see

Opens prison doors, sets the captives free

I’ve got a river of life flowing out of me

Spring up, oh well, within my soul

Spring up, oh well, and make me whole

Spring up, oh well, and give to me

That life, abundantly.

When we have a song in our heart that is bubbling out from a well of thanksgiving to God, we seem to soar over every bump and pot hole in life’s road.  There’s something extremely powerful about that river of life that only comes from God. 

So to sum up this verse…

Live like Jesus, with a song of praise & thanksgiving flowing from our hearts, seek the Holy Spirit’s guidance in everything we say and do, and benefit from wisdom that only comes from God.