“WWJD” is an acronym that most Christians these days would recognize. We know it means “What Would Jesus Do?” It was really big for awhile. People would put stickers on their cars and it was a buzzword for quite some time.

But do people seriously look at how Jesus lived His life while on earth for 33-1/2 years—what Jesus actually did? For one thing He was a Jewish man and grew up with Jewish traditions. What did He mean by telling us to follow His example—as WWJD surely implies—as well as the verses that talk about following Him?

We study His words but do we really understand what He meant for us to do as we try to follow His example, and live the kind of life that He would recognize as following Him? If He came back tomorrow, would He recognize you as someone doing what He would do?

How Jesus lived His life

Let's take a look at the man Jesus was. How did He live His life? What did Jesus do (WDJD)? Remember, we are trying to see how we should live our lives by examining how He lived His life. Lets compare what He did to what we do in our lives.

1. We say we celebrate His birthday by keeping Christmas, but was He really born on December 25? All you have to do is ask Google “when was Jesus born?” and you can read much that explains the well-known fact that it would not have been possible for Him to have been born in the month of December.

I will not belabor this point because there is so much information out there about this. If you are honest after you read the origins of Christmas you will understand fully why that could never have been Jesus’ birthday.

2. Jesus grew up in a Jewish household with His parents and family keeping the Sabbath day on what we call Saturday. Do you do what Jesus did? Do you keep the Sabbath as the Fourth Commandment says, and as Jesus kept all His life?

There are quite a few Sabbath-keeping churches. There are many, many examples all through His life of Him going into the synagogues and preaching on the Sabbath day. It shows Him going to church on the Sabbath. You can find proof at the library or on the Internet that Sunday-keeping wasn’t started until centuries after He died!

The Bible gives proof that His disciples—the people who really did "WDJD”—kept the Sabbath day. So if you are truly honest with yourself and ask what would Jesus do, the answer would have to be that if He came back and saw you sitting in church on Sunday He wouldn’t recognize you as one that follows Him. He would not recognize you as His disciple.

3. By now you might be saying that "WWJD” only means we need to treat people the way He would have treated them. But is that all He meant when He told us to follow Him or did He mean for us to examine His life and really live the way He lived?

We are to become like Him. Think of your earthly parents and how if you had good parents you wanted to emulate them and follow in their footsteps. You looked up to them and wanted to be like them. Ephesians 5:1 reminds us: “Therefore be imitators of God as dear children.”

How can we truly become Christ-like if we are not trying to emulate Him, and if we keep holidays He didn’t authorize and traditions He would not recognize? What would He think of Santa Claus, a tree decorated with lights, or for that matter what do rabbits and eggs have to do with Christ’s death and resurrection?

The challenge is yours

I challenge you to put these traditions to the test. See where these traditions originate from and then ask yourself, "Would Jesus recognize them as ways to worship Him?"

If you say you truly want to do what Jesus would do, can you continue doing what Jesus would call an abomination? He cannot recognize you as a Christian if you are following pagan practices that He Himself would find abhorrent. He will recognize you as a follower of the traditions of men, not a follower of Christianity or a follower of Him.

“What would Jesus do” cannot just be a nice saying and then you just treat people well. Instead, think of “WDJD”—what did Jesus do—if you truly want to emulate Him. Study what He did and then try to adjust your lifestyle to be more in line with His.