“Give me John the Baptist’s head here on a platter.”
Sometimes we want our problems delivered to us on a platter. We want it to be easy. We want them to go away without a real battle or a real fight. What does that ever prove? How does that really benefit our growth? How does that shape us into Christ-likeness?
In this instance, Herod was being held accountable by John the Baptist. John told Herod that his marrying of his brother’s wife was wrong. Which is entirely true on many levels. So, Herod, “silenced” John by putting him in prison. Herod didn’t hate John. He just hated accountability and that someone would call him out on his transgressions.
Herod was rash, in everything. On his birthday his new daughter (the daughter of his former brother’s wife) danced before him. He was so pleased with it, he offered her anything. Her mother had already set the whole thing up. She asked for John’s head. But not just his head, his head on a silver platter.
Herod was weak, in everything. Because of the people who were around him (weakness) and his oaths (rashness) he commanded it to be so. He got his problems fixed. His problem handed to him on a silver platter. Yet, did he change at all? No. The battle, the trial, the tribulation, the struggle–it’s so that we change and become more like Jesus. Herod wasn’t like Jesus at all, now he’ll never be. He got someone else to deal with his issue and take care of his problem.
Whatever you fail to confront, you will become disqualified to overcome. Herod wasn’t able to confront his weakness or his rash personality. It fell to another person to confront his issue and they confronted it their way. Take the time to confront and overcome your weaknesses, your issues, your setbacks; when you do you WILL overcome!
Hungering for more encouragement? You might also enjoy Never Satisfied
Click here to learn more about Pastor and author Casey Bombacie
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