This is a book review for the book, In His Steps, by Charles M. Sheldon. The book is about a
minister and his congregation who were startled one day by a stranger who appeared and asked the
question, “What would Jesus do?” The stranger was trying to help the Christians understand the
difference that their actions make in the lives of other people. A short time later the stranger died, and
the minister decided to make a plea to his congregation. He asked them to take one whole year and ask
what Jesus would do before they did anything.
There were five main people that the story followed, including a newspaper editor, an heiress, and a
singer. The newspaper editor lost a lot of money because he took his newspaper the Christian way,
while the heiress used her money for furthering God’s kingdom despite a lot of opposition from her
family. The singer used her beautiful voice for Christ and helped a lot of people come to know Jesus.
This book goes through each person’s life telling different ways of how they asked the question “What
would Jesus do?” and then how they lived it out.
I’m going to insert a small quote from the book, and I hope that you will find it interesting enough
to want to go and read the book for yourself. It was very inspiring to me.
“Your minister said that it was necessary for the disciple of Jesus to follow His steps. And he said the
steps were obedience, faith, love, and imitation. But I did not hear him tell you just what he meant that
to mean. Especially the last steps. What do you Christians mean by following the steps of Jesus? I’ve
tramped through the city for three days trying to find a job and in all that time, I have not had a word of
sympathy or comfort except from your minister here who said he was sorry for me and hoped I would
find a job somewhere.
“What do you mean by singing ‘I will go with Him all the way’? Do you mean that you’re suffering
and denying yourselves and trying to save the lost, just as I understand Jesus did? When you sing
‘Jesus I my cross have taken, all to leave and follow thee,’ what do you mean by that? But what would
Jesus do? Is that what you mean by following His steps? It seems to me sometimes as if people in the
big churches have good clothes and nice houses while the people outside the churches, thousands of
them die.”
I’ve been thinking a lot about this book as I’ve been listening to it, and it really inspired me to be
careful in what I do. It should help us learn to think before we do something and ask, “What would
Jesus do?” What does He want us to do with our talents like singing, or bell playing, or blog writing,
or whatever individual talents He has given each one of us? How does He want us to use our talents?
How does He want us to be a light for others?
I hope that these questions and thoughts can inspire and encourage you as you keep on in your walk
with Jesus this week. Take time to ask the question “What would Jesus do?” before you do something
– especially something large, but even small things. Just let Him guide you. I hope you take the time
to listen to or read this book and that you’ll find as much inspiration for your own life as I did.
This post was typed and edited by Bethany Griggs.
Pictures by Ezra Morley