A Magnifying Glass

“They came to John and said to him, “Rabbi, that man who was with you on the other side of the Jordan-the one you testified about-look, he is baptizing, and everyone is going to him.” (John 3:26)

“He must become greater; I must become less” (John 3:30)

A magnifying glass is used to enlarge the fine-tuned characteristics of an object, similarly, I want to magnify the characteristics of my God. John the Baptist had his own disciples, just like Jesus. These disciples were studying under John, but John was pointing them towards Jesus as the Messiah. One day, John was baptizing new believers at the same time that Jesus was baptizing new believers.

An argument broke out with John’s disciples where they began to compare the amount of people John was baptizing to the amount Jesus was baptizing. They were comparing John’s ministry to Jesus’s. John responded with the truth. John’s ministry was to point ALL towards Christ, the bridegroom. His ministry had nothing to do with personal fulfillment, numbers, or gaining followers. His ministry was actually about one thing which was, “He must be greater; I must become less” It was about glorifying God.

You see, many times God calls us to ministry, jobs, or service and our hearts forget what matters: as long as God is glorified, nothing else matters. The focus should truly be on becoming less, so that he becomes more. Through this, we begin to experience GREAT joy as we, “take up our cross daily.”