Guilty Decisions

Mark 6: ¹⁴ Now King Herod heard of Him, for His name had become well known. And he said, “John the Baptist is risen from the dead, and therefore these powers are at work in him.”

¹⁵ Others said, “It is Elijah.”

And others said, “It is the Prophet, or like one of the prophets.”

¹⁶ But when Herod heard, he said, “This is John, whom I beheaded; he has been raised from the dead!” ¹⁷ For Herod himself had sent and laid hold of John, and bound him in prison for the sake of Herodias, his brother Philip’s wife; for he had married her. ¹⁸ Because John had said to Herod, “It is not lawful for you to have your brother’s wife.”

============

“I wonder if I got away with it?” was my question. I cannot remember which thing I did, but I was definitely guilty. When someone came near me and asked any question I wondered if they knew about that thing I had done. “Why are people looking at me?” was my thought.

• When I am guilty I make guilty decisions.
• When I am guilty I think everyone around me is bringing up my infraction.
• When I am guilty I try to ignore my guilt but the guilt gets louder.

Herod was clearly guilty in many ways. He killed a person who told him of his infraction, now that JESUS was on the scene he thought it was his victim coming back to haunt him.

• GOD wants me to tell others about my sin so others can feel comfortable with telling their sins.
• GOD wants me to have peace and knows I will make mistakes.
• GOD wants me to avoid sin, but knows I can come to HIM even when I do.

Herod mistook JESUS’s arrival. He was so self-centered in his sinful lifestyle that he missed the possibility of grace, same with me. I was trying to hide sins instead of making them known so others could forgive them or even learn from them.

GOD doesn’t want me to have guilty decisions because they lead to more and more shame. HE wants me have peace that only comes form HIM.

• Are you guilty?
• Have you been hiding your sin for a long time?
• Can you be brave enough to confess your sin instead of trying to make others feel guilty?
• Will you accept GOD’s grace today?