- John 3:23 Now John also was baptizing in Aenon near Salim, because there was much water there. And they came and were baptized. 24 For John had not yet been thrown into prison.
- 25 Then there arose a dispute between some of John’s disciples and the Jews about purification. 26 And they came to John and said to him, “Rabbi, He who was with you beyond the Jordan, to whom you have testified—behold, He is baptizing, and all are coming to Him!”
This is not a happy passage. We see John the Baptist faithfully at work and yet we learn in our reading that there is a prison in his future, there is a dispute going on among some of his disciples and then there is a “competitor” that is being so overwhelmingly successful that it seems like “all are coming to Him!”
Not a lot has changed in our modern world. Whether it is in the world of the sacred or secular, we live in an ever-increasing complex and seemingly competitive world. It is easy to feel overwhelmed and to feel like you’re losing.
However, John the Baptist’s life may provide us with some meaningful encouragement:
First: Prison – yes, there are bad things that happen to good men. But that prison has long crumbled into the dust and the man who put John there is long dead and gone and, but for John, forgotten.
However, John finished well and is more alive now than he has ever been. Prisons come and go, but a life lived faithfully for Christ endures.
Brothers, stay focused on the big picture; take the long-term view; do what you do for Jesus, and all will…nay, must end well.
Second: Disputes – disputes come and go. The issue of purification is not even on the radar today.
Brothers, what seems so urgent and important today will not matter in a few days, stay focus on doing your best in Jesus’ name – the dispute of the day comes and goes, but a faithful life endures.
Finally, this little phrase – “all are coming to Him” can be a killer. We live in a competitive world and it is easy to feel overwhelmed and to see ourselves as always losing.
Brothers, this is simply not the case. All were not coming to Jesus, there was plenty of opportunity for both John and Jesus to declare the good news of salvation.
Remember dear brother, you are your biggest competitor. No one else in this world controls your destiny – you do. Devote your life to Jesus Christ and stay focused on pleasing Him. If you have fulfilled His purpose for your life then you are a true and eternal success. In the end, nothing else will matter.
So bottom line, take your cares, disputes, and deliverables to Jesus in prayer: He’s a friend that stays closer than a brother and a leader that never loses.
May His blessings go with you.
The ONE THING 