Jesus Is The Spotlight Not You

VERSE PASSAGE: Luke 3:20 “Herod added this to them all: He locked John up in prison.” – NIV

Now John spent 30 years preparing for a 6 month ministry, followed by one and a half years in prison before he was beheaded. Many people would not consider his life very successful, yet Jesus said John was the greatest man who was ever born.

VERSE PASSAGE: Matthew 11:11 “Truly I tell you, among those born of women there has not risen anyone greater than John the Baptist; yet whoever is least in the kingdom of heaven is greater than he.” – NIV

John’s greatness didn’t lie in his own success, but in the success of another. John stirred up the hearts of an entire nation for the expected arrival of the Messiah. You see John had prepared a people to meet their God.

VERSE PASSAGE: Malachi 3:1 “I will send my messenger, who will prepare the way before me. Then suddenly the Lord you are seeking will come to his temple; the messenger of the covenant, whom you desire, will come,” says the Lord Almighty.” – NIV

In our celebrity conscious society, few people want to be the backup singer or the announcer who introduces the main speaker. We have formed a mentality that unless we are in the spotlight we have failed. That’s not the way the Lord looks at things.

When the Lord passes out rewards in heaven, we may be shocked to see how He evaluates greatness. Many people who did not receive recognition while on earth will shine like the stars in eternity. The Lord will judge our works on what sort they were and not what size they were.

VERSE PASSAGE: 1 Corinthians 3:13-14 “their work will be shown for what it is, because the Day will bring it to light. It will be revealed with fire, and the fire will test the quality of each person’s work. If what has been built survives, the builder will receive a reward.” – NIV

John prepared the way for Jesus and His ministry. We are to show that ministry to people. We are not called to be in the spotlight but to announce the main person. We are to point all of our actions, responses, thinking and lifestyle towards Jesus Christ. 

Copyright © 2017 by Jacob D. Olinger