When we give our word, we are to stand-by it. James tells us that our Yes be yes and our No to be no. But what happens when we make a decision that turns out to be wrong?
Do you continue in the wrong or do you change your mind?
Many of our decisions would be different if we had slept on them over night or just taken a few minutes to think about the result. We need to think about them before things are made final.
Mark 6:14-29 NIV
We have just witnessed the results of “pride, ego, maybe lust, revenge and many more sins”.
We have a man that is intrigued with the truth that John is preaching. He doesn’t necessarily like what he is hearing, but he knows the difference between right and wrong. He does not want anything really bad to happen to John, so he just put him in jail.
He just wants John to stop telling him that his behavior is sinful.
We have a woman that has to face a man that is telling her that she is living a sinful life. And every time she sees her husband, she is reminded of her sinful behavior.
She now had a moment in her control so she could take advantage of the situation. A young, attractive dancer could dance into the hearts of all who were in attendances, and to the favor of the king.
With the party atmosphere, I’m sure the wine was flowing, and the pride of a powerful man, a boastful king, a man driven by his ego, it was a perfect opportunity for an evil scheming person to take advantage of the situation.
We can blame Salomé, Herodias’ daughter, but it is obvious that she was doing only what Herodias told her to do. (Different transcripts have the dancer as the daughter or step daughter of Herod with the name of Herodias also.) Who she was is not as important as that she was used for a sinful evil act.
Satan can and does use the innocent as well as the deceitful.
Did Herod want to kill John? No
So why did he order his head to be brought to him on a platter?
He was taken advantage of. His pride and ego stood in the way of reversing his decision. His emotions of the moment over powered his better judgment.
The time for decisions was not at the party under those conditions. He knew better, but he did it anyway.
We need to know the answer before the question or situation comes up. We need to know the difference between right and wrong, good and devil. If you don’t know, don’t do it.
Have you ever made a decision that you later regretted? I think all of us have.
Peer pressure and pride can cause us to make bad decision. It doesn’t matter, it can be at school, at home, at work or on a date, we can all fall under the pressure of others and our pride.
Nobody wants to be made a fool of, or to be laughed at, but some are willing to go along with a snap decision because of our pride.
His decision was not made with forethought. Herod went along with it because of pride. He did it to save face in front of his peers.
Do you do that?
You know that you have available to you, a guide, a decision maker that can give you the confidence to make the right decision?
You just need to swallow your pride, take a moment and ask for help.
Ask yourself, “What would Jesus Do?”
What would Jesus want you to do?
He will guide you through the decision making process.
If Jesus was standing right next to you, would you make the same decision?
We need to swallow our pride, our ego and not submit to the pressures of the world.
(Sing the song “We bow Down”)
