Pointing People To Jesus
LENT 2025 DEVOTIONAL:
John 1:19-34 (NIV)
(Chan Wai Lup, Chairperson, Discipleship and Nurture)
This passage presents John the Baptist as having a very clear sense of who he is and the calling that God has for his life. His sole purpose was to lead the people to God by revealing Christ as their Messiah. His focus was never on himself or what he did, although he was prominent in baptising the people in the Jordan River.
I am reminded that as God’s child and bondservant, I too have been called by God to various roles, be it in my work or church ministry. Although the roles may vary in the different seasons of my life, the purpose remains the same: to point people to Jesus.
When I was in my mid-forties, God gave me a vision on building marriages on God’s Word in our church. I was tasked by our pastor to start a marriage enrichment ministry. Marriages were breaking down and Christian couples were not spared. My wife and I felt convicted that the answer is to proactively build Christian marriages by pointing people to Jesus and God’s Word right from the start. We created and conducted marriage enrichment courses and retreats with a focus on God’s Word as a basis for building marriages and resolving marital issues. God brought more than a hundred couples, young and old to participate in the programmes. As a result, a community of couples who desired to proactively build their marriages was established over the years we served in the ministry.
It was easy for people to identify my wife and me as the faces behind the marriage enrichment ministry. While we encouraged mentoring in marriages, God also reminded us that the purpose of our ministry is to point people to Jesus, not to ourselves. In the words of John the Baptist in John 3:30 – “He (Jesus) must increase, but I must decrease”. It was hence timely for my wife and I to step out of the marriage enrichment ministry and serve in a totally different one. So often, God brings me out of my comfort zone in ministry so that I may always depend on Him and not on what I have achieved. Yet, no matter which ministry I serve in or what role I play, the purpose remains the same: to point people to Jesus. This is one thing I have to constantly remind myself of.
Reflection Questions:
1. John the Baptist has a very clear sense of who he is and the calling that God has for his life. How about you? How would you know that what you are doing is God’s calling for you? How can you go about determining God’s role for you in this season of your life?
2. Have you experienced God calling you or taking you out of your comfort zone in your work or your church ministry? What have those experiences taught you?
3. Consider how your current work and ministry can help point people to Jesus. What are you led to do?
