Saturday July 31st: What a price!

John had told him, ‘It is against the law for you to have her.’

Matthew 14: 1-12.

Standing up to Herod as he did, and naming his sin, cost John his head on a platter. To speak truth, especially if it may be unpalatable and if the other has ‘perceived power’ over you, seems a great risk.

Yet today there are those, who, emboldened by their convictions, dare to speak truth to uphold principles deeply rooted in their value and belief systems. As a consequence, they might have been sidelined, denied promotion or even lost their job. Head on a platter….same khaki pants as John’s, as gruesome as it may sound.

I have often wondered what I would be prepared to lose were I in like situations. However, the more relevant question is what will I lose if what I say and do are not guided by the truth which I profess to believe. Maybe my integrity and credibility as a disciple…and in the long term my soul?

Lord, give me the courage of John the Baptist and others like him to tell and live the truth and shame the devil. Amen.