Week of December 13, 2009
JOHN 1: 6-8, 19-32; 3: 22-27
When it is OK to Point!
MONDAY, DECEMBER 14 <Read Matthew 11:7-15>
He is the one who comes after me, the thongs of whose sandals I am not worthy to untie. John 1:27
John was an exceptionally humble man, though it could have been easily otherwise. The huge crowds, the adoring disciples, his own powerful persona, and the speculation that he was Elijah himself come back to life could have led him to believe he was someone very special. It would have been true to some degree. Jesus himself made the remarkable statement that no one born of women was greater than John. However, John was not great because of crowds or persona. He was great because he knew all that he had and was came from God. He knew that God was everything and he himself was nothing and in knowing these things he was truly great. This is a spiritual principle repeated over and over again in the Scriptures. If we want to be great for God, we must first accept the absolute fact that without God, we are nothing. If we accept it, we stay connected to the One who is everything, and we really can become something.
Prayer: Lord, forgive me for continually trying to make something of myself apart from you. Help me to remember that apart from you and wind and dust, but with you I can move mountains and only through you do I find worth greater than I can imagine. Amen.
TUESDAY, DECEMBER 15 <Read John 15:1-8>
You yourselves can testify that I said, ‘I am not the Christ but am sent ahead of him. John 3:28
One of the great factors in John’s humility was his self awareness. Despite his obvious persona, talent and power, he knew who he was, in a sense, nothing in comparison to Jesus. Being nothing does not mean being worthless. It means, like John, we recognize that our worth comes from God and our importance comes as a direct result of what God has given us to be and do whatever that may be. We must accept God’s verdict found in John 15:5, “Apart from me you can do nothing,” and as James Boice says, “if a person accepts God’s verdict, he can become something for God. If he rejects that verdict…he is, of all men, the most nothing.” John accepted God’s verdict, God’s calling and God’s way. The paradox of the Christian faith is that when know we are not important, we are ready to do what is truly important. When we realize we have no power in ourselves, we are able to connect to the One who has all the power. When we place ourselves in the service of the One who is truly worthy, our worth (and our sense of self worth) grows very high indeed.
Prayer: Lord it is only in seeing myself more clearly, that I can see you clearly. Help me to see myself as you see me and so turn to you for forgiveness strength and worth. The world’s praise means nothing, but yours everything. Amen.
WEDNESDAY, DECEMBER 15 <Read 1 Peter 2:9-10
The next day John saw Jesus coming toward him and said, “Look, the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world! John 1:29
Someone asked Ed Sullivan how he was so successful. He responded that “I am a pointer. I point to others who are successful.” John the Baptist was a pointer. His whole purpose of existence was to point to the one who would come after him. Our lives always point to something. For some it is their abilities; for others their intellect; for still others it is their success or their wealth. The question for all of us is what does our life point to? Or perhaps another way to look at it is what do others see when they look at us. Like John the Baptist, our job is to point to Jesus. It is in real sense why we are here. The question for us daily is, do we?
Prayer: Lord, help me see that one of the main reasons you keep me here on this earth is to point to Jesus, to be a witness to you who is light and life to all who believe. Amen.
THURSDAY, DECEMBER 17 <Read Isaiah 62:1-5>
The bride belongs to the bridegroom. The friend who attends the bridegroom waits and listens for him, and is full of joy when he hears the bridegroom’s voice. That joy is mine, and it is now complete. John 3:29
When John uses the images of Bride and Bridegroom, he refers to the Old Testament idea that Yahweh is like a Bridegroom and his people like a Bride. In using these images about Jesus, he is affirming Jesus’ deity. In Jesus, God Himself is coming to claim His people. He is also expressing worship and praise because God has given him the privilege of being a part of God’s plan of joining with his people like a bridegroom to his bride. He is filled with worshipful joy because of what God is doing and his part in it. Someone once said that all of us should have an altar in our heart and that each and every day, all day long; we should be worshipping the Lord. We worship God for what he has done in our lives, what is doing through us and for our part in what he will do in us and in the world. If we do, this same joy can be ours as well.
Prayer: Lord, thank you for what you have done for me and thank you for the great privilege in being a part of your work in this world. May I see these things clearly and may they fill my heart and mind with praise, prayer and joy. Amen.
FRIDAY, DECEMBER 18 <Read Matthew 3:11-17>
He must increase, but I must decrease. John 3:30
When the Greeks came to Philip in John 12, they said, “Sir, we would see Jesus.” They do not want to know how well we know the Bible. They do not want to know about our beautiful church or our programs or even our fellowship. They want to see Jesus. John was all about exalting Jesus and Jesus alone, and one can imagine him sitting in heaven and looking down on us. If like him, we exalt Christ alone, if like him people see Jesus and not us, then we might imagine him smiling and saying, “Now you have it. Now you have it!”
Prayer: Lord, may we much less concerned with what people think of us than what they think of you, and much less concerned with our praise than yours. May we in every way exalt Jesus and His name. Amen.