“I am not the Messiah… He must become greater; I must become less.”
John 3:28, 30
When the ministry of John the Baptist had reached its culmination, he said of Jesus, “He must become greater; l must become less.” John had faithfully completed the work of preparing the way for God’s Messiah. He had experienced the unimaginable joy of welcoming Jesus to “center stage” and it was now time for John to step back from what had been the great work of his life.
And it’s in this humble movement modeled by John that we see a pattern established for what happens when we welcome Jesus into our own lives. The Apostle Paul declares that “In Christ, we are a new creation! The old has gone, the new is here.” What better way to understand the change God desires to bring into our lives than these simple words.
Jesus, you must now become greater.
In every area of our life – every dream, every desire, every aspiration – welcoming Jesus means surrendering everything that had come before.
You must become greater, Jesus. I must become less.
When Jesus is welcomed, the incredible surprise is that in our willingness to be emptied, we find what it means to be full. When we choose to hold on to nothing, we receive everything or in the words of Jesus, “when we are willing to lose our lives, we find life.”
Living under the lordship of Jesus is a constant call to surrender, but it is also an invitation to a life of endless praise. We ground ourselves in the conviction that “every good and perfect gift comes from above.” Grace fuels every part of our daily living and our living is guided by our conviction that sharing grace abundantly is the pathway to the abundant life that Jesus promises.
In the weeks ahead as we consider how “He might become greater,” our invitation is to seek God’s leading in how we might faithfully invest the abundance God has provided us to the great ministry that we share of making and maturing disciples of Jesus Christ who love God, love others and serve the world.
Jesus, in every area of my life, may you become greater. May I become less as I fully surrender my life to you.
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