And immediately the king sent an executioner, and commanded his head to be brought: and he went and beheaded him [John] in the prison, (Mark 6:27 KJV)

 I know it is a strange, and very unsettling, verse to choose for a devotional writing but I believe it is significant.  As I have written in previous posts, being a member of the body of Messiah most definitely has a cost.  Yeshua repeatedly warned his disciples of the realities of being counted among his disciples. 

 And ye shall be hated of all men for my name’s sake: but he that endureth to the end shall be saved. (Matthew 10:22 KJV)

 Then shall they deliver you up to be afflicted, and shall kill you: and ye shall be hated of all nations for my name’s sake. (Matthew 24:9 KJV)

 If the world hate you, ye know that it hated me before it hated you. (John 15:18 KJV)

 I have given them thy word; and the world hath hated them, because they are not of the world, even as I am not of the world. (John 17:14 KJV)

 Since it tends to be Yeshua’s mercy, compassion, and love that draws us to him, it is difficult to image how or why others would reject him or hate him.  The testimony of the scriptures is very clear, not everyone loves the light.

 And this is the condemnation, that light is come into the world, and men loved darkness rather than light, because their deeds were evil. (John 3:19 KJV)

 John the Baptist came as a witness to the light.

 There was a man sent from God, whose name was John. ⁷ The same came for a witness, to bear witness of the Light, that all men through him might believe. ⁸ He was not that Light, but was sent to bear witness of that Light. (John 1:6-8 KJV)

 I’m sure that all of us have experienced some moment in time where we spoke the truth, (hopefully in love) and have had our head handed to us on platter…in a figurative fashion.  But in the case of John the Baptist it was literal!  I believe that this story is a genuine reminder that being a part of the ministry of Yeshua in this world is real. Serving Messiah in this world can be painful, costly, and even deadly.  There are volumes and volumes of books recording the lives of the many martyrs that have given their lives for the sake of the Gospel and the Kingdom.  Most of us read these old lives of the saints with romantic notions running through our minds.  While we read these romantic stories of the ancient martyrs we need to remember that even today there are brothers and sisters suffering great persecution, torture, and death because of their faith in Yeshua the Messiah.    To fulfill our calling to be the body of Messiah we MUST believe the Gospel of the Resurrection.  We MUST believe in the story of Yeshua’s resurrection and the promise of our own resurrection in Yeshua.  If we do not believe that death has been overcome in the cross then we will never embrace the cross.  If we do not believe that there is life on the other side of death, then death will be our bitter foe.  If we do not believe that Messiah has opened the door to life everlasting—then we are still in bondage to fear and death. 

 While we would all love to think that our problems, challenges, testings, and dangers disappear the moment we come to faith in Messiah, the story of John the Baptist reminds us, that this is not a fairy-tale.  Even believers suffer hunger, want, pain, and death.  But for those who genuinely believe in the life, death, and resurrection of Messiah, death is just one more step along the journey of faith.  We should not be scandalized by death or the cross.  We should not fear death, but rather trust in the mercy, compassion, love and promises of Yeshua which drew us to him in the first place.  We must put the brevity of our pains and sufferings in this finite world and life-time in the balance over and against eternity in communion with the Eternal One.  When we compare this world and this life with the world and life to come, there is truly very little comparison. We should recall the words of the Apostle Shaul,

 For I reckon that the sufferings of this present time are not worthy to be compared with the glory which shall be revealed in us. (Romans 8:18 KJV)

 John the Baptist served YHWH faithfully.  He ran the race and ran it well.  He did all that was asked of him.  For whatever reason, the Sovereign One allowed John to be murdered by King Herod.  As a faithful one, John had given his all to fulfill his calling, yet was not spared death.  We too must be ready to suffer and give our all with no other expectation than that of the promise of the resurrection from the dead to a life of eternal communion in the Kingdom of YHWH.  We must not let what stands immediately before our eyes distract us from what YHWH has burned deep