Journey through John 3:22-30

Good Morning Church Family – Journey Through John

Read John 3:22-30

Devo Thought: I saw a guy I went to high school with a couple of days ago. We talked for a little bit and caught up. We talked about our families. It was good to catch up. Seeing him reminded me what a good basketball player he was. Basketball was my sport growing up. I was okay at best, but I really enjoyed playing the game. This guy, in particular, was one of those guys who just looked different than everybody else on the court. He was always taller and stronger and more agile than everyone else. He was the guy who just looked like he was born to play the game when you watched him play. I remember getting to play with him a few times, and I had a strategy for when I played on his team. It was a simple strategy and very effective. Here it is: get him the ball and get out of his way. I knew when the ball was in his hands that he knew what to do and how to do it. I could assist him by defending and rebounding and making the occasional shot, but I needed to do whatever I could to highlight him and his game. This passage in John is talking about something similar. Jesus and his disciples start baptizing, which was the very thing John and his disciples had been doing. John’s disciples look at him and tell him that everyone is going to Jesus now, and John responds as one who understood his role in this divine drama. Like I did when I played with my old friend, he just kept getting “the ball” to Jesus. John knew that it was his job to highlight Jesus, to point people to him. He knew that if Jesus increased, then his joy would be complete. Just a friend of the bridegroom isn’t meant to be the center of attention at the wedding, John knew that this wasn’t about him, and it isn’t about us either. We need to get “the ball” to Jesus and let Him take center stage. He must increase, and we must decrease.

Let us ask God to help us have the same desire as John.