Wishes

"Whatever you ask me, I will give it to you," Mark 6:23.

Now that's a pretty good deal! If you had three wishes, what would be the biggest, the mainest thing you'd wish for? In a different setting Jesus would eventually go on to say that whatever one asks in his (Jesus') name, they should believe that they've received it. And it would be theirs. But here, in the quote above, it's not Jesus talking. It's King Herod. On his own birthday he's giving a dancer his gift to grant her up to half a kingdom. So the worldly king gives up to half of what he owns away because she made him happy. And the worldly person asks for what will make her happy, at the cost of Baptizing John's life. So, again, what would we wish for? Well, what did Jesus wish for? Through anguish, he wished that the will of God be done whatever the cost to himself.

As we visit with a brother or sister today, we speak of Jesus' desire to please the Father to the uttermost, and in that to gift us with all heaven's riches. And, together, we yield our thanksgivings to God serving one another. Sky kingdom.