Background Story: John the Baptist, son of Elizabeth and the priest Zechariah now begins his ministry. It is believed he was in his late 20’s or early 30’s.

Read Matthew 3: 1-17

In those days John the Baptist came, preaching in the wilderness of Judea ² and saying, “Repent, for the kingdom of heaven has come near.” ³ This is he who was spoken of through the prophet Isaiah:

“A voice of one calling in the wilderness,
‘Prepare the way for the Lord,
    make straight paths for him.’”

⁴ John’s clothes were made of camel’s hair, and he had a leather belt around his waist. His food was locusts and wild honey. ⁵ People went out to him from Jerusalem and all Judea and the whole region of the Jordan. ⁶ Confessing their sins, they were baptized by him in the Jordan River.

⁷ But when he saw many of the Pharisees and Sadducees coming to where he was baptizing, he said to them: “You brood of vipers! Who warned you to flee from the coming wrath?⁸ Produce fruit in keeping with repentance. ⁹ And do not think you can say to yourselves, ‘We have Abraham as our father.’ I tell you that out of these stones God can raise up children for Abraham. ¹⁰ The ax is already at the root of the trees, and every tree that does not produce good fruit will be cut down and thrown into the fire.

¹¹ “I baptize you with water for repentance. But after me comes one who is more powerful than I, whose sandals I am not worthy to carry. He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and fire. ¹² His winnowing fork is in his hand, and he will clear his threshing floor, gathering his wheat into the barn and burning up the chaff with unquenchable fire.”

¹³ Then Jesus came from Galilee to the Jordan to be baptized by John. ¹⁴ But John tried to deter him, saying, “I need to be baptized by you, and do you come to me?”

¹⁵ Jesus replied, “Let it be so now; it is proper for us to do this to fulfill all righteousness.”Then John consented.

¹⁶ As soon as Jesus was baptized, he went up out of the water. At that moment heaven was opened, and he saw the Spirit of God descending like a dove and alighting on him. ¹⁷ And a voice from heaven said, “This is my Son, whom I love; with him I am well pleased.”

Big Idea: The purpose of our lives is not to elevate ourselves but Jesus.

John the Baptist was the forerunner prophesied in Malachi 3:1, born to prepare the way for the Messiah. His calling wasn’t an easy one. Living in the desert, he spoke a hard message to the people to stop their sin and idolatry, turn and repent, and be baptized. When Jesus started His ministry and began to baptize people, we read in John 3:26-30 that the Baptist’s followers came to him worried that people were going to Jesus instead of him. To this John replied, “You yourselves can testify that I said, ‘I am not the Messiah but am sent ahead of him.’ 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. He must become greater; I must become less.”

The people around John the Baptist saw Jesus becoming greater in His ministry and John’s influence getting smaller. But John knew his role and chose to serve God faithfully with joy. He knew it wasn’t about him. John wasn’t the main attraction. His life was about exalting and pointing others to Jesus and that, “He must become greater; I must become less.”

In each of our lives, this is also true. Our mission is to elevate, exalt and point others to Jesus. Whether at school, in our jobs, in college, in our relationships… we become living, breathing proofs of the truth of the gospel we preach. A visible reminder and voice proclaiming that God loves them and Jesus paid the price for them. That our very lives become living offerings of worship (Romans 12:1). Today go to God, surrendering yourself to God’s purposes and ask Him to reveal ways you can elevate and exalt Jesus.

Takeaway Verse:

Song for Today:

Looking For More?

Similar Devotions: Bring Everything, A New Song, Our Part in the Story, I Want to See, Live Life Loud, The Restless Heart, My Identity, A Different Love