FAMILY IT! — Wednesday Family Devotional — “Street Hero”

My third grader has been learning about some of the laws and principles found in science.  We’ve studied things like thermodynamics, Newton’s Laws of Motion, and even experimented with the principles of sound.  But one thing that hasn’t popped up is the “more/less principle.”  That’s the idea that if you have more of one thing, you will consequently have less of something else.  For example, the more toys I put in the tub, the less room there is for me.  The more time I spend at the park, the less time I’ll have at the library.  The more mashed potatoes I eat at dinner, the less room there will be in my stomach for yummy dessert.  

You get the idea.

Sometimes this can be a great thing.  For example, the more muscle I build on my body, the less fat I’ll have.  Score!  The more time I spend focusing on my homework, the less time I’ll have to spend studying for the quiz.  Can you think of your own?   Take a minute for some creativity and see who around the living room can come up with the best “more/less” example.

John the Baptist understood the “more/less” principle in the most personal way.  By the time John’s cousin Jesus began teaching people about God’s love, John already had a thriving baptism business going.  Well, it wasn’t really a business, but people did know all about this camel-wearing preacher guy who lived in the desert and taught people to repent of their sins.  He had his own followers and they were making a Kingdom difference teaching and baptizing others.

So when Jesus and His posse start doing the same thing on the other side of town, John’s disciples get their noses a little out of joint.  You can all read about it in John 3:22-36.  See what I mean?  They were definitely battling with some serious jealousy there.  But John handled it so wonderfully.  He helped them get their eyes off of their own mission and helped them focus on God.

The best summary of John’s philosophy comes in verse 30: “He must increase, but I must decrease.”  I love that!  It’s the ultimate “more/less” example.

Jesus must increase.  Absolutely.  We want more of Jesus.  We want more of His love, more of His grace, more of His gentleness and His faithfulness.  In times of struggle, we strive for more of Jesus’ peace.  When we’re frustrated by others, we long for more of His compassion.  More Jesus!  More Jesus!

Thankfully, there’s plenty of Jesus to go around.  But there’s not plenty of us.  We only have so much space in our hearts and minds, and if we want more of Jesus, we need to have less of something else to make room.  

That less is ourselves.  

If we want more of Jesus in our lives, we need less of ourselves getting in the way.  What does that mean?  It means I need to focus on less about ME.  Less about what I want, what I think I need, what I wish were happening.  I need to spend less time worrying about my thoughts, my opinions, my likes, my dislikes, my dreams, my fears, my my my my.  That’s a lot of me! 

But when we can be like John and decrease some of that “me,” we make room for Jesus to grow in our hearts.  When we silence our own voices, we can suddenly hear His thoughts, His opinions, His likes, His dislikes, His dreams and plans for my life.  We end up with more of Jesus, and that brings so many amazing blessings with it.

What do you need less of in your life to make room for more of Jesus?  What can you decrease?  Less time playing?  Less time on the phone?  Less time trying to plan your own stuff?  How can you decrease those things so you have more space available for Jesus?  What can your family do together to increase Jesus?  Make a plan: what will you decrease and how will you increase Jesus time?  Close together in prayer asking Jesus for that very thing—less of us, mor of You.