Forward Movement is an official, non-profit agency of the Episcopal Church whose mission is to create compelling content for Christian living. Since 1935 we have published the quarterly devotional Forward Day by Day, as well as pamphlets, booklets, and books that encourage and nourish people in their lives of prayer and faith.
TUESDAY, August 10 (Laurence)
John 3:22-36. He must increase, but I must decrease.
John the Baptist was the forerunner, the one who pointed out Jesus as the Lamb of God and testified to the vision of the Holy Spirit anointing him at the time of his baptism. This was the beginning of Jesus’ mission. Two of John’s disciples followed Jesus.
Others remained with John, and now they experience a common human reaction in the face of change. They hurt to see large numbers flocking to Jesus while John’s following is shrinking. “All are going to him,” they say.
But John is content. He knows that he has fulfilled his mission. He bore faithful witness to the One who was to come and baptize with the Holy Spirit. In the increase of the followers of Jesus, John sees his own success. Like the best man at the wedding, waiting for the bridegroom to arrive, he can only rejoice on hearing the bridegroom’s voice.
The sense of frustration in John’s followers is understandable. It is very much like our own when we have labored devotedly to build up our church, only to find that a new generation is taking over. John reassures us. The one taking over, in the guise of newcomers and strangers, is none other than Jesus himself. (1978)
PRAY for the Diocese of Ezo (Sudan)
Ps 97, 99, [100] * 94, [95]; Judges 13:1-15; Acts 5:27-42
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All my money and all my effort to build a church that agrees with me are wasted.
I must let go and let God. And then things change so fast, and I lose my position of importance.
God, let me find the joy in that event.