When I picture John the Baptist, I picture a Grizzly Adams kind of man. Bearded, tough, and furry clothes. The Bible describes him as a guy who lived in the wilderness and ate locust. I wonder what people thought of him when they saw him. I wonder if they took one look at his exterior, made a judgement, and discounted his message or dismissed him as crazy. Sure, on the outside, he was rough, but on the inside was a heart and spirit we should all strive to have.
I believe he was able to amass a great following based on his heart. How many people do you know who have charismatic personalities, yet are very humble? Those two things rarely go together. Usually the person who enjoys being the center of attention doesn’t give it up happily, but John knew his place and his calling. When Jesus came along, he had no problem yielding the stage to Him. To me, that’s what admire most about him.
When some of his followers came to him to tell him that Jesus was baptizing not far away, they expected him to get upset. After all, his name was John the Baptist. Baptizing people was kind of his thing. His followers were a lot like us. They didn’t like to yield the stage, and they really didn’t like that Jesus was taking people from their ministry. How dare He? After all, it was John who baptized Jesus. But John knew what was going on and he didn’t let his pride get in the way of his calling
In John 3:30, John showed us what was behind his wild and rough exterior when he told his followers, “He must become more important while I become less important” (GNT). That’s the attitude that each of us should strive for each day. We should make Jesus more important in our life while we become less important. We should understand that our lives were created to serve His purpose, not ours. Each day, we should be looking for ways to have Him increase in our lives. If you want to fulfill your purpose, you have to lose the pride that tries to make your name known so you can make Him known.
Devotions by Chris Hendrix 