Beheading of John the Baptist
Tomorrow we celebrate the Beheading of John the Baptist, the Holy Forerunner. He preached with boldness, such boldness that he paid for his boldness with his life.
In the story of the beheading, there's a line that always gets me (Beth). After Herodias asks for the head of John the Baptist, Matthew writes that Herod "...was distressed but because of his oaths and his dinner guests, he ordered that her request be granted." It hits me every time, because we can see that he knew what the right thing to do was, and still chose to do the opposite.
That can be us. Hopefully with not such drastic consequences as to behead someone(!), but still those little sins when we know the right thing add up! Let's strive for boldness in our day to day life. Push through when we see that the right thing to do is hard and may cause conflict with those around us.