The "Decreasing" Thing

I have become a real fan of John the Baptist of late. After the Christmas story, he is the only person who “gets it” about Jesus for quite awhile. He lives his whole life to talk about someone else and he is the first to point his finger and say, “Now there you go, that’s the Lamb of God, and He’s going to change the whole world!” (My paraphrase, of course).

John is also the first to surrender his own front and center stature to the rising predominance of Jesus—“He must increase, but I must decrease” (John 3:30). I don’t believe this was difficult for John. The literal presence and popularity of Jesus made it rather simple for the forerunner to fade into the background.

I have tried this “decreasing” thing. I have come to the conclusion that it just might be part of my problem. Every time I determine to decrease, I decide I must do more—more church, more Bible reading and study, more prayer, more love for people, just more! So my “decreasing” for the sake of Jesus “increasing” becomes all about ME doing more! There is something wrong with this picture.

I think it is matter of where you concentrate your attention. The Baptist did not focus on his own “decreasing;” he focused on Jesus’ “increasing.” He let Jesus have center stage; he acquiesced; he got out of the way. In some sense, John did not “decrease” much at all. He kept preaching—hard preaching in fact. He literally lost his head for the sake of his convictions.

Acquiescing to Jesus and getting out of His way moment by moment is hard—and harder to measure. It is why I am so tempted by the trap of decreasing—doing more.

Lord Jesus, today, help me acquiesce; help me get out of the way. Today, Lord, take center stage in my life, and give me grace to follow Your lead!

There will still be plenty to do!