Come to Stillness: Take a few minutes to allow your mind and heart to
be still before God.
Opening Prayer: Lord Jesus, give us the grace and the strength
and the courage to follow your invitation downward—to the place where there is
only you and nothing else. In your name
and for your sake we pray. Amen.
Scripture Reading for the Day: John 3:25-30
Reading for Reflection:
Decreasing is not easy,
just ask John the Baptist’s disciples.
They were upset because many of the folks that had come out to the
desert to see John had now jumped ship and were going to Jesus
instead. "Everyone's going to him," they complain. And you have to love John’s answer, "Good! Let them. Didn't I tell you that I
wasn't The One, but only the one sent to bear witness to The One?
The bride belongs to the bridegroom, not to me. I'm just a friend of
the bridegroom. My job is to attend to the groom; waiting for His
arrival, listening for His voice. And when He comes, my job is just
to step out of His way. The bride is for Him, not for me.”
But most of us, if we are really honest, have to admit that we don't want to be just the friend of the bridegroom, we want to be much more than that. We want the attention, affection, and recognition of the bride. We want the bride to be in love with us. We want to matter. We don't want to be an insignificant, secondary character in this story, we want a bigger role. We want to be the main attraction; or at least a main attraction. We want to increase. We want to be BIG in people's lives. We need to be BIG in people's lives, as hard as that might be to admit.
Decreasing, indeed, is a difficult task. It requires the putting to death of so many of the things that occupy space within us, starting with my needy attitude. But it is a necessity in following Jesus. We must, like John, decrease; not just for decreasing's sake, but for His sake—that He might increase.
But most of us, if we are really honest, have to admit that we don't want to be just the friend of the bridegroom, we want to be much more than that. We want the attention, affection, and recognition of the bride. We want the bride to be in love with us. We want to matter. We don't want to be an insignificant, secondary character in this story, we want a bigger role. We want to be the main attraction; or at least a main attraction. We want to increase. We want to be BIG in people's lives. We need to be BIG in people's lives, as hard as that might be to admit.
Decreasing, indeed, is a difficult task. It requires the putting to death of so many of the things that occupy space within us, starting with my needy attitude. But it is a necessity in following Jesus. We must, like John, decrease; not just for decreasing's sake, but for His sake—that He might increase.
Reflection and Listening: silent and written
Prayer: for the church, for others, for myself
Prayer: for the church, for others, for myself
Closing Prayer: Lord Jesus, give me the courage, the
strength, and the grace to decrease today—whatever that may look like—that you
might increase. Amen.
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