An old hymn that I have not heard in
a while is, “What Will You Do with Jesus?”
The lyrics go like this, “What will you do with
Jesus / The question comes to you / And
you must give an answer / For something
you must do / What shall it be / What shall it
be / What shall your answer be / What will
you do with Jesus / Oh, what shall your
answer be.” My memory tells me that this
hymn has been used almost exclusively as
a song of invitation. It is a call for people to
decide if they are going to come to Jesus.
And rightly so. I believe that this
summoning message is at the core of these
lyrics.
But I also believe that there is more
to it than that. For those of us who have
been Christians for a minute or a year or a
decade or even most of our lives, the words
of this song should cause us to ask
ourselves the question, “What will we do
with Jesus?” Or, better yet, “What AM I
doing with Jesus?” We have been saved.
We have been rescued from darkness in
order to walk in God’s light. “Once you were
not a people, but now you are God’s
people; once you had not received mercy,
but now you have received mercy,” writes
the apostle Peter, reminding us of the
impassible gulf that God bridged in Jesus
Christ.
So, what are we doing with Jesus?
How are we living out the truth of the holy
God who came near? Do my neighbors,
friends, family, and fellow citizens
experience the presence of an incarnate
God because of the way I live? The
question comes to us … –Ricky
