Trapped by what you said

Trapped by what you said

You have been trapped by what you said, ensnared by the words of your mouth. Prov. 6:2

It is a shame that today I have to write about one of my major weaknesses; Promising to my jeopardy. I just pray that my wife will not read this because severally she has advised me to pause before I make a promise. I call it a shame because I feel that up to this time I still make hasty promises. I also discovered that some people around me know about this weakness and have often taken advantage of it. As you perhaps know, I am a preacher who has put in many years into the work and like my peers in trade, I often pick characters from the bible; yes, some notorious characters which I use to push home my messages when I mean to talk about bad people who refused to repent and so suffered eternally. One of such characters, as your pastor would have told you, is King Herod who killed a servant of God called John the Baptist.

On Herod’s birthday the daughter of Herodias danced for the guests and pleased Herod so much 7that he promised with an oath to give her whatever she asked. Prompted by her mother, she said, “Give me here on a platter the head of John the Baptist.” The king was distressed, but because of his oaths and his dinner guests, he ordered that her request be granted and had John beheaded(I) in the prison. His head was brought in on a platter and given to the girl, who carried it to her mother. Matt6:6-11

King Herod did not know that his enemy was stalking around and waiting to take advantage of the words of his own mouth. Herod would have been a bad man but sorry to say, he had more value for his own words than most Christians today. I complained to a pastor in Cameroon, very sad to say, but I cannot remember three pastors in Cameroon whom I met who thinks that they are obligated to keep their own words. And many of us are like that. I don’t want to believe that this is deliberate; rather it is as a result of not thinking before we talk. When Herod made the promise, he was thinking about lands and houses. Perhaps, he will think, what can this small girl ask for more than a big toy or a visit to an Aunty? Well, he may further think, if she dares to ask for an expensive car, I will give it to her and then get her a good driver. In his weirdest thinking he never believed that his wonderful harmless daughter will ask for a human head. Well, that was what she asked for. She asked for that knowing that he was a man who kept his words at whatever cost.

Yes, I remember that some people will bully you to a corner by reminding you that you are a pastor. They are not going to be pastors because they know they won’t live up to the standard but they are going to be supervisors for others who make up their minds to venture. If you understand the mess Herod found himself, you will forgive him and then try to use his predicament to better your own character. He was faced with two bad options; would he remain a man of his words and kill a man he holds in great respect or will he destroy a moral legacy he has held all his life and save a man of God. Some young women who committed abortion and young men who aided fraud in their company will relate with what I am trying to say. It is pertinent that our two legs would have already landed in the deep ocean before we realize the option before us.

My dear brothers and sisters, take note of this: Everyone should be quick to listen, slow to speak and slow to become angry, James 1:19

When the bible said quick to listen, I believe that it means that when people tell you something, you make sure you understand them before you speak. There is nothing wrong with asking the person to repeat himself more than twice before responding. You may even go further to ask the person to allow you time to think about it. It may seem stupid but it is better to appear stupid than to carry guilt all your life. If you read the above text well, you will observe that Herod carried the guilt all his life.

It is also needful that we take careful note of the kind of people we relate with. Once a person introduces himself through his character or body language, we should start relating with him according to that. Herodias was another man’s wife, more than that, the wife of Herod’s brother. For that woman to cross-carpet to his brother-in-law’s house while her husband lived, was enough evidence that she had no morals and was evil. She never hid herself, if you ask me, she was very open to Herod.

In a relationship, if you meet a man or woman who is always insulting servants of God and uses dubious ways to assist you, just know that she can return the same treatment to you. Evil people don’t become evil because they don’t like your face. They do evil things because they are evil

To be continued

Emma your brother @PNUR