Sep 24 2024
Today's Bible Verse
He that hath the bride is the bridegroom: but the friend of the bridegroom, which standeth and heareth him, rejoiceth greatly because of the bridegroom's voice: this my joy therefore is fulfilled.
When the disciples of John the Baptist tell him that Jesus has been baptizing other followers, John's response is that he is rejoicing at His coming. Using the metaphor of a wedding party, John lets his disciples know that Jesus is the Messiah—the bridegroom prophesied about in Psalm 45—that they had long awaited.
The church is the bride of Christ, who is the bridegroom, and John the Baptist is the friend of Christ. Think about the role of the best man at a wedding. He usually has been friends with the groom for a long time, even while the couple was courting, and at the wedding will probably give a speech. He rejoices in the couple getting together. In a similar way, John had prepared the way for Jesus, and now that the time has come for Jesus to begin His ministry, His joy is fulfilled.
John the Baptist's ministry was never about himself. If that were the case, he would not have been happy that Jesus' ministry was beginning. It was now time for John's ministry to come to an end, and he directed his followers to follow Jesus instead. While he was once the leader of a movement, Jesus' arrival on the ministry scene meant that John was going to be a follower again, and he accepted the role gladly.
Today, we can learn from John's humility. He didn't vie for the position of bridegroom, but instead, was happy to take on the role of supporting friend. His primary goal was to please the Lord, and that meant being obedient to whatever the Lord called him to do at the right time.
As ministers, our primary goal is the same as John's: to please the Lord. It doesn't really matter what that looks like. We could be leading a small group, a large congregation, or an entire nation. God is concerned about our being good and humble stewards right where He has placed us. We can take heart that in a world that constantly tries to push us toward more and bigger and better, the primary aim of the Christian is satisfaction in God alone. Everything else, including how He uses us to further His kingdom, is ancillary.
Dear Lord, I thank you for the opportunity to know you. I thank you for the great love you have shown me and that you have given me a place in your kingdom. Help me to be more and more like you, Lord. With humility and gratitude, I accept the role you have given me, and I ask that you would help me steward it well. In Jesus' name, amen.
If we find ourselves with a desire that nothing in this world can satisfy, the most probable explanation is that we were made for another world.
-C.S. Lewis
God will not look you over for medals, degrees or diplomas but for scars.
-Elbert Hubbard
The Christian does not think God will love us because we are good, but that God will make us good because He loves us.
-C.S. Lewis
"If you want to know what God thinks of money, just look at the people he gave it to.
-Dorothy Parker
