May 2021 Monthly Devotional: Know your Role and SHUT your Mouth

 

John 3:30

²⁶ So John’s disciples came to him and said, “Rabbi, the man you met on the other side of the Jordan River, the one you identified as the Messiah, is also baptizing people. And everybody is going to him instead of coming to us.”

²⁷ John replied, “No one can receive anything unless God gives it from heaven. ²⁸ You yourselves know how plainly I told you, ‘I am not the Messiah. I am only here to prepare the way for him.’ ²⁹ It is the bridegroom who marries the bride, and the bridegroom’s friend is simply glad to stand with him and hear his vows. Therefore, I am filled with joy at his success. 

³⁰ He must become greater and greater, and I must become less and less.

The disciples of John the Baptist were not happy.

There was a new preacher in town and they were losing followers so they went to John to complain about the competition.

John wasn't worried because He knew that he was not the main act and that he was just a forerunner to the one who would bring salvation to the world.
 
John knew his role was to make ready a people for the coming of the Lord and to cry out in the wilderness. (Isaiah 40:1-5). 

John told his disciples that he was overjoyed at Jesus' success.
In the true humility of a servant John says that Jesus must become greater and that he John must become less.

John then went on to point his followers to Jesus as being the Messiah from heaven that they had been waiting for.

John's example shows how we must Know our role and point people to Jesus and not ourselves.

Know your role...and SHUT YOUR MOUTH

When I was a teenager I was a big wrestling fan and "The Rock" (He's now movie star Dwayne Johnson) was my favorite wrestler.

One of his famous catchphrases was KNOW YOUR ROLE AND SHUT YOUR MOUTH.

As I read this passage in my devotional one morning, all I could think about was that as believers we need to KNOW OUR ROLE AND SHUT OUR MOUTHS.

John's disciples were worried about Jesus stealing their shine.
John's mission was to point people to Jesus. 
He knew his role and shut his mouth about himself. 

Practical Application: Make Jesus Greater

Jesus must become greater and greater in our lives and we must become less and less.

John could have reacted differently to his disciples' concerns that Jesus was taking their followers.  He could have bad-mouthed Jesus to those that had decided to go and follow him. He could have tried to one-up Jesus with a fancy new marketing campaign to try to win the people back.

He didn't do any of those things.
 
John did what we should all be doing in our lives: He allowed Jesus to become greater and greater as he became less and less.

As human beings, this is not easy because we want to control our lives and we want to run the show.  When life is going well, we want to point to ourselves as deserving all of the glory.


However, as Jesus' followers, we need to be like John the Baptist

We need to know our roles and shut our mouths!
 

As I get deeper into my journey with Jesus, I realize I'm not going to make it without Him.  I look around at the world and the lies that Satan is promoting and I believe that pointing people to anything other than Jesus would be a grave injustice.

Action Step

How can you allow Jesus to become greater in your life and you take a backseat?

In my own life, I've made the decision that I will seek first the Kingdom. Whatever that means for my life plan is what God has for me.  I've spent too many years trying to become greater and all it did was make me frustrated.  

I know my role and  I'll shut my mouth!

Prayer

Lord, we pray not to fall for distractions and lies of the enemy.  God, we want you to become greater and greater  We want to become less and less.  We want people to see YOU in our lives.  We want you to be glorified on this earth.  Help us to point people to YOU and not ourselves. In Jesus' name, Amen