“It is He who, coming after me, is preferred before me, whose sandal strap I am not worthy to loose” (John 1:27).
Andrew was at first a disciple of his friend John the Baptist. John pointed him to “the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world” (v. 29), and walked away from companionship. That must have been hard to do. Andrew left John to follow Jesus (see v. 38).
Sometimes we have to let go of our friends so they can stop depending on us and begin a ministry of their own. As far as God is concerned, you are greatest when you give your friends to Jesus.
Helping someone move on to other ministries is a bit like teaching a child to ride a bicycle, running alongside the little one, holding onto the back of the seat. But at some point, you have to let go. The child will never learn to ride unless you take your hands away, and you will have a heart attack if you keep holding the back of the seat!
The difficult thing is to know when to let go. John knew. When Andrew followed Jesus that day, he may have wobbled for a few feet without John’s support, but within a very short time, he brought his bother Simon to Christ!
