It Really IS a HEAD on That Platter!!

Have you ever caved into pressure and acted against your better judgment? You didn’t expect to actually do it or go there or get involved but in the heat of the moment you gave in. Now you have regrets and a bad conscience! Although you didn’t deliberately set clear boundaries for yourself, you figured you’d be able to handle it and do the right thing if the situation ever arose. You thought you could find a way out of it without being embarrassed; a way to put the brakes on and go no further. But things didn’t work out the way you planned.

For Herod, little did he think he would do later that day what he ended up doing. Yes, he was annoyed with John the Baptist. After all, John had condemned the fact that Herod was living incestuously with his own sister-in-law, so why wouldn’t he rough the preacher up a bit by throwing him in jail?!! He probably wanted to kill John right then, but the community would have protested strongly. So the next best thing was to lock him up. But by the time Herod’s big birthday bash rolled around, his anger had subsided. It seems he started to half like the guy.

In Matthew 14 we pick up the story of his daughter dancing before all the birthday party-men skillfully and sensuously.

“Dear, come here. You have pleased the guys amazingly. They loved it and I loved it. You can ask for anything you want and I’ll give it to you as a reward.”

“Just a second Herod. Do you really mean ‘anything’? Are there no boundaries? Aren’t there a few things you wouldn’t give up? Is the sky really the limit? Shouldn’t you attach a few caveats to that open-ended offer to your dancing daughter? What if she asks for John’s head on a platter? Would you go there? Would you do that?” But Herod wasn’t thinking in advance. He’d cross that bridge when he came to it.

After receiving advice from her mother who hated John for exposing her sin, the daughter made her little request: “I want John the Baptist’s head on a platter!”

Did Herod swallow hard as he tried to process this bizarre request? Would he honor his promise? The heat was on. He gave in and soon the bloody platter arrived.

I may not put a head on a platter but there are other things that may end up on a platter IF I don’t have some boundaries determined beforehand in the presence of the Lord. Unless you purpose in your heart beforehand NOT to watch anything with obscene language or swearing or nudity or sexually suggestive material in it, it’s likely you will cave into the pressure. The purity of your thought-life will end up on the platter.

Unless a couple dating determine NOT to touch certain parts of the body over or under clothing, it’s highly probable they will violate each other’s sanctity and commit fornication for which they will have to be sadly disciplined by the local church in accordance with 1 Corinthians Chapter 5.

Unless I purpose in my heart that I will be at all the assembly meetings unless I am ill or extraordinarily detained, my regular attendance at prayer meetings, Bible studies and Gospel meetings will likely end up on the platter.

If I, in the presence of the Lord don’t develop convictions and determine the agenda, my three enemies (the world, the flesh and the devil) will conspire together against me and win. Things we never thought we would sacrifice or allow on the platter will end up there, unless we establish convictions beforehand. Remember Daniel? He purposed in his heart beforehand that he would not be defiled by the norms of Babylon. (Daniel 1:8)