Have you seen those videos where a parent offers a piece of candy or something sweet to a toddler and asks them not to eat it? A friend of mine did this recently. They put a piece of candy on the night stand with their two year old looking at it. They told him, “Mommy is going to get something in the other room. Don’t eat that until I get back. Ok?” She walked out of the room for about 30 seconds to a minute. This kid could hardly take his eyes off the candy while she was gone. He licked his lips a couple of times, looked at the door , looked back at the candy and waited? It was fun to watch. Im not sure I could have waited!
John the Baptist was a unique and incredible guy. Despite his looks, diet and living conditions, he amassed a huge following. He preached a powerful message of repentance and it caused many hearts to turn back to God. Not long after he baptized Jesus, the crowds began to grow around Him as well. Even some of John’s followers left him to follow Jesus. Some of his other followers began to get jealous that the crowds around Jesus were larger than theirs. John quickly responded that he had told them he wasn’t the Messiah. Then in John 3:30 he told them that Jesus must increase and he must decrease.
There’s a constant battle in all of us very similar to both of these stories. We have a strong desire pulling us toward what we want and a spirit inside pulling us toward what God desires. 1 Peter 4:2 says, “So live the rest of your earthly life no longer concerned with human desires but consumed with what brings pleasure to God” (TPT). It’s tough to do. John had the right heart and attitude that we should have. We must remember that life is not about us or our desires. We have to live with eternity in mind and choose to let God’s desires and plans increase in our life instead of our own. Matthew 6:33 reminds us to seek first the Kingdom of God. When we do that, everything else falls into place.
Photo by Annie Spratt on Unsplash
Devotions by Chris Hendrix 
Your story brought to mind Christ’s parable about the wineskins from Matthew chapter nine. We need to put new wine into new wine skins, but sometimes we don’t– because the old wineskins are more familiar. There’s also a great book called, “Don’t Eat the Marshmallow Yet!,” by Joachim de Posada, that speaks about our inability to delay gratification, even when it would benefit us. It’s not a Christian book, par se, but a good one.
Thanks for the recommendation. Great catch with the link to the wine skins.