Timeless KingdomSample

By all measurements, John the Baptist was interesting. He spent his days in the wilderness near the Jordan River, preaching about the need for genuine repentance. He ate locusts and wild honey. He even wore a camel’s hair tunic and secured it with a leather belt around his waist, evoking memories of the prophet Elijah. He baptized those who accepted his message and wanted to prepare for the coming kingdom of God as he plunged them beneath the cold waters of the Jordan. Word spread about this eccentric preacher out in the desert, and people from every walk of life ventured out to see him for themselves. Before long, John had quite a following. He even had his disciples.

John, however, didn’t care about fame. He understood that God’s calling on his life was to clear a path for Someone greater, Someone more important, Someone, as John put it, “whose sandals I am not worthy to carry” (Matthew 3:11). And so, when Jesus appeared publicly, John announced that He was “the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world” (John 1:29). John understood something many of us miss even today: The kingdom is not about us but about Jesus. We must become less so that He becomes more!

Today, work to memorize this verse, using it as a prayer to ask God to see your kingdom decrease as His increases in your heart.