by Pastor Glen Bowman
“What would Jesus do?” Considering that question had led many people to make many good decisions. If we have a concept about what Jesus would do in any given situation, we would then be wise to imitate Him (1 John 2:6; 1 Peter 2:24). However, a good question to ask as a foundation for this is, “What did Jesus do?” How did Jesus spend His time? If we know the answer to this, then we can know better what He would do and how to prioritize things. Let’s start by looking at some simple things that Jesus did!
First, Jesus serves as our example for helping others, cooking out, and even having a potluck! He did all these things in John 21, guiding the disciples for where to catch fish, cooking what He had already, and asking them to bring some of their fish also. Obviously, we don’t “need” a book, chapter, and verse reference for everything that we do, but it’s nice to see that we’re following Jesus by enjoying potlucks.
Also, Jesus attended a wedding (John 2:1-11) and a funeral (Luke 7:11-16). In some cultures, these are commonly attended events and it’s a sign of supporting people and their families to attend them. Jesus practiced this too, so we should go and do likewise. It’s worth noting though that Jesus wasn’t a wedding crasher since He had an invitation to the wedding (John 2:2). We should probably only attend weddings if we know that we’re invited!
In addition, Jesus spent time with children (Matthew 18:1-14; 19:13-15). He spoke well of children (18:2-4), prayed over them (19:13-15), and said that they had a place of favor with God (18:5-10, 14). While we obviously spend lots of time with children if they live in our home, do we go out of our way to be a blessing to kids who don’t live with us? To be like Jesus, we should give them attention and love them like Jesus did (and still does).
Furthermore, Jesus showed a great deal of hospitality to others. He even took people into His home that He had just met (John 1:37-39). He fed thousands of people on multiple occasions (Mark 6:35-44; 8:1-11). While those might seem like monumental tasks, we can all offer our friends and family a place to stay if they need it. We can all feed people in times of need like Jesus did (8:1-3). Let’s look at our homes as places to show hospitality and our food as something to be shared!
Jesus also accepted hospitality from others. For some, this may be the easiest task of all, but sometimes people like to live their own lives separate and apart from others. We never see Jesus turn down an invitation to visit people (e.g., Luke 7:36; Mark 5:22-24). Sometimes, Jesus went to spent time in people’s homes when He wasn’t invited (e.g., Luke 19:5; Matthew 8:5-7). We should be willing to go to others in their time of need and visit with them, whether we’re invited or not.
Finally, Jesus worshipped with His disciples. He sang with them (Mark 14:26), prayed with them (John 11:41-42), preached to them (Matthew 11:4-6), and even took the Lord’s supper with them (Luke 22:17-20). Do we make it a regular practice of worshipping with Jesus’ disciples? Do we regularly visit others, show hospitality, spend time with children, and attend events to the glory of God? If not, we can start today! Thank God that we don’t have the Covid restrictions that we once had, so let’s freely do what Jesus did in these simple things!
