John 3:22–30
After this Jesus and his disciples went
into the Judean countryside, and he spent some time there with them and
baptized. John also was baptizing at Aenon near Salim because water was
abundant there; and people kept coming and were being baptized John, of course,
had not yet been thrown into prison. Now a discussion about purification arose
between John's disciples and a Jew. They came to John and said to him,
"Rabbi, the one who was with you across the Jordan, to whom you testified,
here he is baptizing, and all are going to him." John answered, "No
one can receive anything except what has been given from heaven. You yourselves
are my witnesses that I said, 'I am not the Messiah, but I have been sent ahead
of him.' He who has the bride is the bridegroom. The friend of the bridegroom,
who stands and hears him, rejoices greatly at the bridegroom's voice. For this
reason my joy has been fulfilled. He must increase, but I must decrease."
Reflection
l My question as I grow older is: ‘Do I accept my failures and the
wounds of life as more important than my strengths in witnessing to Jesus?’
l Am I weak enough to be a wounded healer?