CORRECT ME IF I’M WRONG

“Recall that Herod had had John arrested, put in chains, and imprisoned on account of Herodias, the wife of his brother Philip. That was because John had told him, ‘It is not right for you to live with her.’ ” –Matthew 14:3-4

Jesus no longer walks the face of the earth. Now we have the Paraclete, the Holy Spirit, sent by God the Father and the Son (Jn 16:7). The Spirit proves us wrong about sin (Jn 16:8). For example, the Spirit worked through John the Baptist to convict Herod and Herodias of their sin of adultery. Sadly, they did not accept the Spirit’s correction, murdered John, and turned their backs on the Lord’s prophetic message. The chosen people of Jeremiah’s time likewise refused God’s correction through prophet after prophet (see e.g. Jer 26:11), and their idolatry eventually destroyed their nation and resulted in being exiled into Babylon.

Occasionally, someone accepts the Holy Spirit’s precious correction, which leads them to eternal life and protects them from damnation. For example, on one occasion the princes and the people who heard the prophetic warnings from Jeremiah said: “This man does not deserve death; it is in the name of the Lord, our God, that he speaks to us” (Jer 26:16). Will you repeatedly accept the Holy Spirit’s corrections so as to be made holy by the Spirit of holiness? If today you hear His voice, harden not your hearts (Ps 95:7-8).

PRAYER: Father, burn away sin from my life no matter what it takes.
PROMISE: “The Lord hears the poor, and His own who are in bonds He spurns not.” —Ps 69:34
PRAISE: St. John heard the Holy Spirit’s call and drew sinners back to God. He wrote: “Prayer makes time pass very quickly and with such great delight that one does not notice its length.”