Some thought John the Baptist would be jealous; others thought he would panic because his popularity was fading; some saw him in competition with Jesus. But John was filled with joy to hear of the works of Christ and that people were going to Him, being baptized by His disciples, and were following Him. John recognized his true position. He was the one was sent by God to proclaim repentance and to point people to the Savior. His words were clear: He must increase, but I must decrease (John 3.30). This was not to be about John and advancing his influence; the focus was turned completely to Christ.
May this also be our fervent focus and desire: He must increase, but I must decrease. In every way and in every aspect of my life, the influence of Christ should grow. Our view of ourselves and our view of Christ will decrease and increase at the same rate. We cannot think highly of ourselves and highly of Christ simultaneously. We can only have one focus, and that should be Christ alone. We must decrease in our determination for popularity, our thinking proudly of our abilities and accomplishments, of our craving for recognition and affirmation, in our thinking ourselves as righteous. We must decrease in our primary focus of doing, gaining, and planning only for our comforts, pleasures, and enjoyments. Instead of all this, Christ must increase in our lives. To grow in our understanding and relationship with Christ, He should be our focus; He should have our full attention, be the recipient of our praise, be our motivation and our purpose in living. If we are distressed and life is filled with discouragement, if we face seemingly endless difficulties and troubles, may we shift our focus to Jesus. When focusing on Christ, who He is, what He has done, and what He promises to do; when focusing on His Word, our perspective changes. May we remember life is not about us. It is all about Jesus, about submission before God eternal, about giving Him all glory.
Seeing Jesus increase in our lives – we have much to be thankful for –
Terry
