Read Mark 6:14-32.
When Jesus is brought to the attention of King Herod, Herod sees himself as he was-a man who shed the blood of innocents. Herod tolerated and protected John as a holy man even when John called him out for seducing the wife of his own brother. However, he allowed John to be beheaded when Herod put being an impressive party host above right or mercy.
Fortunately, very few people have the sin résumé of Herod. But, when confronted by the presence of Jesus, we need to look at ourselves as we are compared to him. We are not epic killers like Herod, but we do seek our own way. We sin and need to seek forgiveness from God. Give Herod credit-he knew he was deserving of harsh judgment. We deserve judgment as well. But we can take comfort knowing Jesus grants us forgiveness and new life when we turn to him.
Gracious God, show us our failings and how to restore our relationship with You. Amen.
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I wonder what we would do if we made a promise to "do anything" in front of a bunch of friends. We then found out the promise was not something God would want us to do, certainly not like Herod but something that would hurt others by our words or actions.
ReplyDeleteI ask God for forgiveness for my many failings and thank Him for His amazing grace. I also pray that He will guide me everyday to be more like Jesus!