By: Chelsey DeMatteis
“He must increase, I must decrease.” – John 3:30
As we walk toward Easter, looking at Jesus and His life, I find myself so often wondering what it would’ve been like to be there watching his life happen. We read through Scripture and we glimpse into amazing things about Jesus’ life and all that happened to those around him. I get chills when I think about watching his display of love, grace, truth sharing, and obedience to whatever his Heavenly Father directed him to do. So, each Easter season, I find myself in a posture of awe and wonder. The hope-filled joy of knowing who holds the pen to the pages of my life and who walks alongside me through all my seasons. This my friends, is good news.
If you’re like me, I love thinking of Jesus’s whole life, not just his years of ministry. I can hardly imagine watching Jesus take his first steps as a wobbly toddler or watching him walk up to be baptized by John the Baptist or to see him feed the 5,000, or to have the honor of hearing Him teach the Sermon on the Mount. All of these amazing things we hear and picture but wow, to actually see them in the flesh sounds like such a gift, a gift that I’d give just about anything to see.
And while that would be an amazing gift, I am reminded that we have the greatest gift of living on this side of the cross. This side of the cross allows his Spirit to live inside you and me, this side of the cross is where death has no more sting. The gift of living on this side of the cross is a gift that we cannot overlook. We have the Word of God in written form that we are able to dig into to learn more about who our Creator is, what his son’s life was really like, and why we needed a Savior to take our place
It’s sitting in that awe and wonder that I am reminded of one of my favorite verses, one that has changed my life forever: John 3:30. “He must increase, but I must decrease.” These are seven life-changing, powerful, needed words spoken by John the Baptist. These seven words continue to be a reminder to me of the gift Jesus is to all of us daily. Because of Jesus and His life we are able to live our lives in the posture of decrease so that our lives increase in Him. How amazing is that? Our Heavenly Father sent His perfect, sinless son Jesus to come and take on the penalty of all we would ever do just so we would have the opportunity to be made right with Him and live eternally together. This leaves me speechless. Jesus had to come and take on all you and I would ever do so we could be eternally right with God forever. He had to.Celebrate, We Will
