March 23 Daily Devotional

Bible Reading

John 3:25-36:

²⁵Then there arose a question between some of John's disciples and the Jews about purifying.
²⁶And they came unto John, and said unto him, Rabbi, he that was with thee beyond Jordan, to whom thou barest witness, behold, the same baptizeth, and all men come to him.
²⁷John answered and said, A man can receive nothing, except it be given him from heaven.
²⁸Ye yourselves bear me witness, that I said, I am not the Christ, but that I am sent before him.
²⁹He that hath the bride is the bridegroom: but the friend of the bridegroom, which standeth and heareth him, rejoiceth greatly because of the bridegroom's voice: this my joy therefore is fulfilled.
³⁰He must increase, but I must decrease.
³¹He that cometh from above is above all: he that is of the earth is earthly, and speaketh of the earth: he that cometh from heaven is above all.
³²And what he hath seen and heard, that he testifieth; and no man receiveth his testimony.
³³He that hath received his testimony hath set to his seal that God is true.
³⁴For he whom God hath sent speaketh the words of God: for God giveth not the Spirit by measure unto him.
³⁵The Father loveth the Son, and hath given all things into his hand.
³⁶He that believeth on the Son hath everlasting life: and he that believeth not the Son shall not see life; but the wrath of God abideth on him.

Devotional

A boy, just starting to serve the Lord in church work, had been given a regular assignment in his Sunday school. One day his feelings were bruised. He felt that his work was not appreciated. In his resentment he was at the point of giving it up. But before he did so, he went home and reported his grievance to his mother. He expected her to be sympathetic, to understand just how he felt, and to agree with him that he should no longer continue to work at something for which he was not being given proper recognition and thanks.

But his mother surprised him. She did not tell him that he should give up his assignment in the Sunday school. Instead, she asked him a question: "Why are you doing this work in the Sunday school?" She wanted to know, "Are you doing it for yourself or for the Lord?"

The boy knew how to answer this question. There was only one thing for him to do, and that was to return to his task and perform it as unto the Lord.

What the boy had to learn - and what all who would be strong in the Lord have to learn - is that we must not seek our own praise, but the Lord's. We must not be deterred from our Christian service by lack of human appreciation or even by abuse. We must devote ourselves with singleness of purpose to the glory of God and the service of our fellow Christians. After all, Paul said, " . . . we preach not ourselves, but Christ Jesus the Lord, and ourselves your servants for Jesus' sake" (II Corinthians 4:5). And to ourselves, in our own calling, we should apply what John the Baptist said, "He must increase, but I must decrease."

Welcome to "Think on These Things," a twelve-week daily devotional prepared by the late Dr. John H. Skilton, an ordained minister in the Orthodox Presbyterian Church and for many years Chairman of the New Testament Department at Westminster Theological Seminary, Philadelphia.

We are indebted to P & R Publishing and Skilton House Ministries for permission to use this copyrighted material on the OPC Web site. (P & R held the copyright from 1975 to 2005, at which time they reassigned the copyright to Skilton House.)