He Must Increase

“He must increase, but I must decrease.” John 3:30

John the Baptist had been preaching in the wilderness of Judaea, and many people had come to hear him preach. His message was clear and simple: repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand. Those who believed what John was preaching were baptized. Many people came to hear him, and sometimes the crowds who sought to hear his message were quite large. Of course, John’s purpose was to introduce Jesus as the promised Messiah, the Christ. Soon after John had begun pointing his followers to Jesus, crowds were thronging to see Him and hear His teachings. Some of John the Baptist’s followers came to John wanting to know what he thought about the fact that the crowds following Jesus were growing. John said, “He must increase, but I must decrease.” John knew that his purpose was only fulfilled as people began follow Jesus; and he knew that in order for Christ to increase, he had to decrease.

The purpose of every Christian is to exalt the name of Jesus Christ. We should have the same goal that John the Baptist had. We should want Jesus to increase—to have more followers. We know that He is the King of Kings and Lord of Lords, but we need to remember that He is depending on us to let other people know about Who He is and what He has done in our lives. Are we willing to decrease (to focus less on ourselves) in order for Him to increase?