Here I sit, Father, at a High School Varsity Softball game and, as always, thank You for traveling mercies to get here and I know you will be with us on the return. I am never alone!
Mark 6:16-29 (<<click to read the passage)
One more thing in regards to this passage… How often do our words get us into trouble? I think every single one of us would have a hard time keeping tally! Words cannot be retracted – once they are shot forth they are forever said. We don’t get a redo. And “sorry” sometimes just doesn’t cut it.
“King” Herod – and I say that loosely in that he was just a puppet of Rome with no real power – exposed himself in such a way that the worst could happen…and the worst did happen.
Ever heard of someone being referred to as a windbag? Well, that would be an apt description for Herod. “Ask me for anything you like…and I will give it to you…up to half my kingdom!” Bologna! He didn’t have any kingdom to give – everything he had belonged to Rome. If they had chosen he could have been dropped just like that, no questions asked.
But that’s what he said and when he got an unexpected reply, he wasn’t man enough to decline the request – John the Baptist’s head on a tray!
Herod was a loser on multiple fronts!
Remember the words of a song many of us sang as kids? “Oh, be careful little tongue what you say…for the Father up above is looking down in love. Oh, be careful little tongue what you say.”
The Bible is full of passages that refer to the good and bad of the tongue.
1 Peter 3:10 states, “If you want to enjoy life and see many happy days, keep your tongue from speaking evil and your lips from telling lies.”
Or how about this one from Proverbs 21:23, “Watch your tongue and keep your mouth shut, and you will stay out of trouble.”
Lord Jesus, help us – all of us – to be careful what we say. May we think before we speak and may what we do say be seasoned with the salt of our relationship with You. Amen!
Mar 28th, 2019, Thurs, 4:46 pm
