John 3:30 Devotion – What Life’s All About
~ Today’s Scripture Art and Devotion on John 3:30 were designed to help you write God’s Word on your heart. ~
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I’m not sure if there’s another verse quite like this one.
John 3:30 (ESV): He must increase and I must decrease.
This downright amazing, thought-provoking quote was made by John the Baptist.
It is my all-time favorite verse. But this is not about me. {grin}
But this verse IS about life – and the key to what it’s all about.
It’s interesting to me that when this verse is discussed, most people talk about the decreasing.
How can we go about decreasing?
How can we humble ourselves?
How can we deny ourselves?
But you know what?
Aren’t those questions the exact opposite of what this verse suggests?
Come again?
Think about it. Those kinds of questions are all about us!
How can we go about decreasing?
How can we humble ourselves?
How can we deny ourselves?
Let’s put the verse in context and see if we can find out what John the Baptist had in mind …
John 3:26-30 (ESV): And they came to John [the Baptist] and said to him, “Rabbi, he [Jesus] who was with you across the Jordan, to whom you bore witness—look, he is baptizing, and all are going to him.” John answered, “A person cannot receive even one thing unless it is given him from heaven. You yourselves bear me witness, that I said, ‘I am not the Christ, but I have been sent before him.’ The one who has the bride is the bridegroom. The friend of the bridegroom, who stands and hears him, rejoices greatly at the bridegroom’s voice. Therefore this joy of mine is now complete. He must increase, but I must decrease.”
*Side thought: We bloggers, pastors, teachers, etc. can joyfully trust (just like John) and say, “A person cannot receive even one thing unless it is given him from heaven.”
Wow. John the Baptist definitely had this decreasing-thing down.
But did he get there by focusing on the decreasing?
He dedicated his whole life to preparing the way for Jesus.
His whole life!
He focused on Jesus – on increasing Jesus.
I don’t think he was sitting around spending time figuring out ways to deny himself.
He did deny himself – don’t get me wrong – but that came as a byproduct. It wasn’t his focus.
Jesus was his sole focus.
And how did that focus work out for him?
His joy was made complete.
I want complete joy too. How about you?
So here’s the thing.
If we’ll put the emphasis on His increasing, then our decreasing will fall into place by default.
Instead of pondering how we should be denying ourselves, let’s think of ways to fill our lives with more of Him.
What if we spend more time with Him in His Word? We’ll decrease.
(Less time for our own words and logic.)
What if we spend more time talking to Him in prayer? We’ll decrease.
(Less time for our own thoughts and worries.)
What if we spend more time serving His people? We’ll decrease.
(Less time for serving ourselves.)
What if we spend more time in His house? We’ll decrease.
(Less time for worshiping lesser things.)
On and on we could go.
But you get my point. Isn’t that a much nicer way to look at this verse?
Let’s focus on His increase.
That’s what life is all about, right?
Let’s add more and more of Him every day until there’s slowly but surely – and quite naturally – no room for me, me, me.
Let’s start today!
What can we do to increase Jesus today?
Idea: Join our Verse Journal Challenge!
I would love to hear your ideas over on facebook or instagram!
*My prayer for you is … that this blog will inspire you to open your Bible every single day to seek God’s face and write His Word on your heart – because HE’S the key to lasting heart change!
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