Dear God, I just attended a lovely worship service on the evening of Sunday June 7. It was organized and led by two young women who attend a Catholic college in Ohio, and they gave it to (I could have said “led it for,” but it felt more like a gift) the church before they head back to school.

Since today kind of marks the end of the Christmas season with the recognition of Epiphany (the wise men), they had a bit of a Christmas season focus for the songs and readings, although they weren’t specifically about Christmas itself. But the thought I had during the service was that I needed it more than I realized. I have had a really good and special Christmas season this year. I was able to really meditate on the Incarnation of Jesus and internalize the beauty of your gift to us. What I was lacking, however, was closure on the season. It was just kind of fizzling out. It’s January 7. What’s next?

But today was a good day. I heard a good sermon my Andy Stanley that challenged me to think a little. Then I helped my wife take down our Christmas decorations and return the house to its normal state. And finally I attended this service. It was really good closure.

So as I sat in that church tonight, sang the songs, and prayed to you, I thought about a lot of things. Most important were a couple who is facing a huge health crisis for the wife and had to go to the hospital. They were going to come to the service, but the ER visit got in the way. I prayed for them a lot. Then there was just worshipping you. Appreciating you. Marveling at you. And I was also really appreciating these two young women and hoping great things for them. Not great as in they will increase and you will decrease, but that the fruits of your Spirit will grow powerfully through them.

I guess I’ll close with some of the words to one of the songs they sang for us. The song is called “Humble.”

Humble and human, willing to bend You are
Fashioned of flesh and the fire of life, You are
Not too proud to wear our skin
To know this weary world we’re in
Humble, humble Jesus
Yeah eh eh

Humble in sorrow, You gladly carried Your cross
Never refusing Your life to the weakest of us
Not too proud to bear our sin
To feel this brokenness we’re in
Humble, oh oh humble Jesus

We bow our knees (We bow our knees)
We must decrease (We must decrease)
You must increase (You must increase)
We lift You high

Humble in greatness, born in the likeness of man
Name above all names, holding our world in Your hands
Oh oh oh, not too proud to dwell with us, to live in us, to die for us
Humble, humble Jesus

We bow our knees (We bow our knees)
We must decrease (We must decrease)
You must increase (You must increase)
We lift You high
We bow our knees oh oh (We bow our knees)
We must decrease (We must decrease)
And You must increase (You must increase)
We lift You high

We lift You high
We lift You high
We lift You high
We lift You high
We lift You high
We lift You high yeah
We lift You high

Humble
You are humble
Make me humble
Like you
We lift You high

Source: Musixmatch

Songwriters: Audrey Nicole Assad

The lines that struck me:

• Not too proud to wear our skin
• To know this weary world we’re in
• Not too proud to bear our sin
• To feel this brokenness we’re in
• We must decrease
• You must increase

Father, make that my final prayer as I move out of the Christmas season and into the rest of the year. May I decrease and you increase. Let me model what you modeled: humble.

I pray all of this in the name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit, my Triune God,

Amen