St. John 1:15
THE SIXTH DAY OF CHRISTMAS - DECEMBER 31, 2007
IS JESUS GREATER THAN I AM?
15 John bore witness of Him and cried out, saying,
“This was He of whom I said, ‘He who comes after me is preferred before
me, for He was before me.’” St. John 1:15 (NKJV)
Have you ever asked yourself the question, “Is Jesus greater than I am?”
It is an important question that does need to be asked and it deserves an
honest, well thought out answer.
Some people might say, No, I am more important than Jesus. Maybe that is
not the vocal answer they would give, but it is the answer they give with
the example of their daily life. Think of all the people who are the
loudest advocates for law and order. How many of them do you know who
speed while driving, drive after they have been drinking, cheat on their
Income Tax, and all of what they would call other minor offenses. Their
lips say, Yes, but their lives say, No. The same things apply to Jesus.
Our lips may say, Yes, Jesus is greater than we are, but our lives shout,
NO, He isn’t. If we believe that Jesus is greater than we are, then
we must gladly become obedient to His Word.
Sometimes we glide over the words of this verse. We need to spend time on
these words as they are important: “This was He of whom I said, ‘He
who comes after me is preferred before me, for He was before me.’” This
can get a little confusing if you allow these words to stand alone. In
today's language, it would be He who will come after me is more important
because He was before me. How can someone who come after you, come before
you? This is where you have to go back to verse 1 - “In the beginning was
the Word and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.” And then verse
14: “And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us.”
Now it becomes a little clearer. John the Baptist is telling the people
that the one who will come after him Was in the beginning, IS now and EVER
shall be, world without end. In the New testament, it is worded this way,
“Jesus Christ, the same yesterday, today and forever.”
Why can’t we acknowledge that He is greater than we? Why can’t we
understand that to obey Him and live according to His rules is the best
thing for us? Why can’t we close our eyes and our ears to shut out all of
the sinful calls of the world that seek to drag us from Him.
I hope you can join with me in saying, YES, JESUS IS GREATER THAN I AM.
WE PRAY: HEAVENLY FATHER, We sing your praise with the beautiful hymn, How
Great Thou Art. Now, we ask you to give us the power to not only sing
those words, but to live them. AMEN
A SUGGESTION FOR LIVING THE DEVOTION
If you can look to Jesus and know that He is greater than you, you will
want to be more like Him. Remember, there are people who look at you and
wish they could be more like you as you live your life of faith.
Therefore, look at your faith and the way you live your life. Because we
are sinful, there are many places where we fall short of what God wants us
to do and be. Select one area and ask your GREAT GOD to help you become
more like Him. Remember that person who would like to be more like you?
When you draw near to your GREAT God, you are also helping that person
draw nearer to God as well.