EIGHTH IN A SERIES ON THE GOSPEL JESUS PROCLAIMED
“Truly, I say to you, among those born of women there has arisen no one greater than John the Baptist. Yet the one who is least in the kingdom of heaven is greater than he.” (Matthew 11:11, ESV)
Justin Thomas won the Nicklaus Trophy for the PGA Tour Player of 2017. He was the greatest in golf this year.
Last month I contrasted the greatest in golf with the greatest in the kingdom of God. We looked at Jesus words, “Whoever humbles himself like this child is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven” (Matthew 18: 4).
This month let’s review Jesus’ words about John the Baptist, about whom Jesus said, “…among those born of women none is greater than John. Yet the one who is least in the kingdom of God is greater than he” (John 7:28).
What was it in John that made him great?
Was it not his humility? Just before Jesus came to John to be baptized, John said of the Lord, “…whose sandals I am not worthy to carry” (Matthew 3:11).
No one born of women had been greater than John. Yet, it’s possible to be even greater than John. How? Be least in the kingdom.
I grew up in a culture where self-sufficiency was one of the highest virtues. I think our family mantra was, “Survival of the Fittest.” I admired my dad and mom for how they survived the Great Depression. They reared us to rely only on ourselves. Humility had little value; it was the partner of weakness.
Then I heard the Good News of Jesus.
For the first time in my life that I could remember, I humbled myself. Wasn’t easy. I was arrogant. Dying to pride (which I soon learned needed to be done daily) opened a brand-new way of life I never knew existed. Life in God’s kingdom provided this invisible citadel of peace, purpose, joy, and lasting love—with anguish, at times, though. That was 60 years, one month ago. That was the night I prayed and asked Jesus if he would forgive me of my sins, come into my heart and be my Savior and my King.
Had I known then how many times I would have to bow, I might have walked away from the greatest thing that has ever happened to me.
Make no mistake, it costs to follow Jesus.
The part that pays is my pride. That selfish part of me that doesn’t need anyone or anything. Praying, as Jesus did, for God’s will to be done on earth, in my affairs—and not my will—is humbling. It does cost to follow Jesus.
But it costs more not to bow. Just as certain as the man named Jesus of Nazareth was crucified in the first century and rose from the dead, so the Scriptures read: “…that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow…and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord.” (Philippians 2:11).
I know many of you who read this will agree with me when I say that humbling myself before Jesus, as John the Baptist did, was the greatest move I’ve ever made in life. Because in bowing to him, a new world opened like the sun breaking through after a storm. And I began to see how great the Good News of Jesus and his Kingdom really is.
—
Jim Hiskey
November 20, 2017
Copyright 2017 Links Players International
The Links Daily Devotional appears Monday-Friday at www.linksplayers.com.
Other devotions in this series:
1 A Large Mistake
2 The Key Fundamental
3 After the Humiliation: Good News
4 The Garland
5 Much Ado About Much
6 The Living King and the Enduring Kingdom
7 The Kingdom Message
9 Resting in Jesus