You would think that a king would be the one in charge. That is what kings do...they make the big decisions. There was a king in Mark, chapter 6, named Herod who couldn't seem to figure out who was in charge...of his family, his kingdom or his personal life! Herod had transgressed God's law by taking his brother's wife and John the Baptist called him out on this, because John was all about following God in truth and righteousness and he knew that the king was not only wrong but providing a bad example for others. The king knew that John was right and that he was wrong and he knew that John was a good man. He even liked to listen to John and hear words of truth. The problems is that he wasn't willing to act on all of that good information. Instead, he listened to his wife, as she influenced him to ultimately take the life of John. It became more important to him to maintain his relationship with the wife he had wrongly taken than the God who had given him life and allowed him to become king.
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We may think that we are "king" of our own life. We may think that we make the choices and that we are in charge. But what are the influences that we really act on? In Herod's case, he was a puppet of other influences that came to rule him. It would have taken humility for Herod to bow before God and acknowledge that John was right. He would have had to give up his illicit marriage and face public humiliation perhaps. He chose to keep the unhealthy relationships intact and cut himself off from the most important relationship of all.
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Who is in charge of your life?
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Mark 6:20b Herod was greatly disturbed whenever he talked with John, but even so, he liked to listen to him.
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blessings,
Rob Smith
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