John 3:22
Working, waiting, willing…
Jesus works through His disciples. When our text says that Jesus was baptizing it is in the sense that His disciples were doing the baptizing (John 4:1-2). These men were learning to be instruments in the hand of God. In the gospel accounts, sometimes the disciples are mentioned as a group, sometimes individually, but it was all centered on Christ. Whatever we do, our lives are to serve as a testimony to Him (Matthew 5:16 / 1 Corinthians 10:31 / Philippians 2:15).
Just when you are starting to get the hang of this “ministry” or “witnessing” thing, Jesus starts to get the real message across. He is going to get the work done anyway, through anyone, but He wants to do something particular in you while you’re at it.
If we are to fulfill our purpose, and learn from our Lord, we must be willing to do things for God where He receives all the credit. It is an easy thing to say “yes, of course” to that idea, but quite another to work it out in practice, especially when “He receives all the credit” means that you receive no recognition for your work while someone else does, often for less work. Jesus is working something in you, driving pride from your heart, working humility into your soul, drilling peace into your character. He has a way of not bringing your recognition around until you recognize that yourself (Colossians 3:23-24).
We must see our work in the light of the Light. The Light is not shining through us if it is not shining to us.
2 comments:
Too many times we get pious (without realizing it of course) refusing to admit there is or even may be darkness in our heart and we focus on "helping" others to see the darkness in theirs. The heart is deceitfully wicked, who can know it! Oh Lord God Almighty, help us to allow your light to shine to us and THEN through us. Things must be done properly and in order or you do not get the glory AND no one is really helped.
Bullseye baby!
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