BE CONTENT WITH YOUR GOD GIVEN ROLE
TEXT:
"He must increase, but I must decrease." (John chapter 3 verse 30, King James Version).
In the Book of the Gospel according to Saint Matthew chapter 11 verse 11, the Lord Jesus had this say of John the Baptist,
"Verily I say unto you, Among them that are born of women there hath not risen a greater than John the Baptist: ... ". What a testimony from the Lord about John the Baptist! But what was about him that earned him such accolade and applause from the Lord?
One reason for this is probably because John the Baptist recognized and accepted his God given role in life. To the contrary, there are many Christians who are virtually ignorant of their purpose of being, let alone of them accepting their God given role according to His scheme and design. It wasn't so with John the Baptist.
From inception, he recognized that he was a chosen vessel by the Lord. The Bible tells us that he lived in the desert, away from the normal life of his generation and separated himself unto God (see Luke chapter 1 verse 80). To me, this was highly sacrificial. The problem with men of our generation is that we want the laurels of people like John the Baptist, but we are not ready to tread their paths. It doesn't work that way!
In the Scriptural reading for today, John the Baptist said of the Lord Jesus, "He must increase, but I must decrease." This statement was following reports reaching him that Jesus Whom he had baptized had also begun to do baptism and that "all men come to him", even from among John's disciples (see John chapter 3 verse 26 and John chapter 1 verse 37, respectively). This would have paralyzed and destroyed most men. On the contrary, John was able to decipher the reason for Jesus' success saying, "A man can receive nothing, except it be given him from heaven." (see John chapter 3 verse 27)
One thing I have discovered about John the Baptist is that he knew and accepted his God given role in life. The Scriptures recognized him as the forerunner of the Lord Jesus (see Isaiah chapter 40 verse 3; Malachi chapter 4 verses 5 to 6; Matthew chapter 3 verse 3 and John chapter 1 verse 23). In other words, Jesus owed much of His success to the preparatory and foundational work of John the Baptist.
Our present generation is a "celebrity conscious society" where few people want to be in the background of events. This is a generation where we regard it as failure to be relegated to the background. It is a generation where everyone strives and struggles to be at the forefront of events. It's a generation where we consider only those at the forefront as successful. It's a generation where only a few people want to play the role of the backup singer or the stage manager of events. We have developed and adopted a consciousness that unless we are at the forefront of events, we are nothing but failures. This is utterly wrong and disgusting.
Jesus taught us in Matthew chapter 23 verses 11 to 12 saying,
"But he that is greatest among you shall be your servant. And whosoever shall exalt himself shall be abased; and he that shall humble himself shall be exalted."
Jesus exalted John the Baptist because he humbled and abased himself and took the position of the servant. This also was Jesus' pattern of life and the Bible says in Philippians chapter 2 verses 5 to 11 as follows:
"Let this mind be in you, which was also in Christ Jesus: Who, being in the form of God, thought it not robbery to be equal with God: But made himself of no reputation, and took upon him the form of a servant, and was made in the likeness of men: And being found in fashion as a man, he humbled himself, and became obedient unto death, even the death of the cross. Wherefore God also hath highly exalted him, and given him a name which is above every name: That at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, of things in heaven, and things in earth, and things under the earth; And that every tongue should confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father."
PRAYER:
Father, show me what You designed me for and help me to accept and accomplish it in life, in Jesus name.