Pray for Heroes

"Bring me the head of John the Baptist on a platter!" Matthew 14:8

The Gospel in Matthew is about John the Baptist and how he was unafraid to speak the truth even when Herod was a powerful man and a despot who liked to get his own way. Herod was brash and liked to show off, promising the young daughter of his mistress Herodias that she could ask anything from him after a dance that pleased him. After a consult with her mother, she asked for the head of John the Baptist. John was beheaded. 

Did that silence John the Baptist? Many would say yes. But I believe he lived on in the consciences of many, including Herod himself, who I am sure, was haunted by the voice and the words of the man. In the beginning of the 14th chapter of Matthew we read that Herod the tetrarch heard of the reputation of Jesus and said to his servants, “This man is John the Baptist. He has been raised from the dead; that is why mighty powers are at work in him.”

The truth will prevail and the truth will not die. Let us pray for heroes. Each one of us must be a hero. We have a calling to be prophets for our time. Are we clear about our mission and purpose? Do we know that we are called and placed here on earth, in our city, in our neighborhood, school, office, our family, community, because God wants us to do something for Him? We are all created unique, one of a kind, with gifts and talents different from anyone else. 

In Esther 4:14, Queen Esther was called to task by her uncle Mordecai. "For if you remain silent at this time, relief and deliverance for the Jews will arise from another place, but you and your father's family will perish. And who knows but that you have come to your royal position for such a time as this?”