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

THEME OF THE DAY: ONE LIFE – ONE GOAL.  As one reads the Bible, it does not take long to realize it is the most unique, one-of-a-kind book ever penned and the reasons are obvious.

First and foremost, it is God’s Book; His very Word . . .

“All Scripture is breathed out by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for training in righteousness” (2 Timothy 3:16).

A second reason for the Bible being the profoundest and most transformational book ever to be placed in human history is because the book reads us.  Yes, we read God’s story in the Bible, but this is the only book that gives us the true picture of ourselves and all of humanity.  This book goes deep into the heart and mind of those willing to be searched by it.  And the results are a revelation of our very being . . .

“For the word of God is living and active, sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing to the division of soul and of spirit, of joints and of marrow, and discerning the thoughts and intentions of the heart.” (Hebrews 4:12).

There is a third reason for the uniqueness of our Bible and that because it is has one story line – God’s love revealed to us in the Lord Jesus Christ who came from heaven to earth to save us from our sins and bring us back into a loving fellowship with our God.  It is the greatest story ever told because it is the greatest true story ever revealed.   And from the opening book of Genesis to the ending in the Revelation, God’s Word points to the scripture theme for today’s nugget – “He (the Lord Jesus) must increase, but we must decrease” (John 3:30).

But the story line in the Bible isn’t just about Jesus increasing, and all other beings decreasing.  It has personal application to us who call Him “Savior, Lord, and Master.”   God has given us one life to live, and it is to be lived each day with one goal – to see Christ increase in all our relationships, conversations, attitudes, conduct, and the stewardship of our time, talents, and treasures.  And with His increase, we fade in the story, even to the point of a daily death to self.  We learn to apply this truth modeled in the life of the Apostle Paul . . .

“I have been crucified with Christ. It is no longer I who live, but Christ who lives in me. And the life I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me” (Galatians 2:20).

In a very real sense, the Bible, God’s story, becomes our story, not with attention given to us, but on the attention we are to give to the Lord. It is the attention realizing we have one life to live and it has one goal – to make much about the Lord Jesus every day of life, everywhere we go in life, and in every encounter in life.

PRAYER: Father, help me make my one life be given over to one goal – Christ increasing in all I say and do.

REFLECTION:  Every day seek to make much of Christ in all we say and do and nothing of ourselves.