Today’s Reading: John 3:22-36
Hearing God’s Voice for Today:
“He must increase, but I must decrease.”
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This verse shows Jesus’ special and personal relationship with John the Baptist. It expresses why they were very close. It shows why Jesus loved him. It’s what Jesus wants all relationships with him to be like.
Jesus must increase. You must decrease.
For this to happen, your willingness to decrease must be a daily choice. It means you desire to lessen your own importance and glorify Jesus. When you glorify someone, you render a good opinion of him. When you glorify Jesus, you render a good opinion of him in the eyes of others. Personal glory decreases. His glory increases. Through the lens of your life’s camera, you desire to render a good opinion of Jesus as people see him living in and through you.
Is Jesus first in your life? Is he preeminent in who you are and all you do? Do you desire his kingdom to be first in your life and then trust he will bring to you everything else you need—in his time and in his way?
Anything penultimate in your life is an idol. Jesus must be ultimate.
You are never to use Jesus for your own glory. Rather, he is to use you for his glory. All that you have, all that you own, all the successes you’ve known, are all because he has chosen to give them to you. Everything you have in life—from your family to friends to the clothes you wear—are gifts from him to you. They come to you solely because of his grace.
This is especially true of your sins being forgiven and your personal relationship with Jesus. You are forgiven solely because of his grace. If you could work your way to your own salvation, you’d brag about it forever. Heaven would forever hear the echoes of your boastful words that earned the Lord’s favor. But you didn’t. You can’t. Your eternal relationship with Jesus is a magnanimous gift from him to you—unearned and by grace.
All you have in life comes from him. The proof that you know this is your heartfelt willingness to humbly and daily say, “He must increase. I must decrease.”
That was John the Baptist’s passion. Is it yours? It should be.
When it’s true, you will give him control of every area of your life. You will live every day in joyful, thankful, and humble worship of him—giving him all the glory in everything. You are like a little child whom Jesus said is the greatest in his kingdom.
You will decrease. And he will increase.
That’s God’s will for your life—today and all days.
[from “Hearing the Voice of God” by Pastor David Chadwick, Moments of Hope Church, Charlotte, NC]