On Wednesday, we ended up with a turtle in a box, that we put on the back deck. Thursday my wife Karie & our 5-year-old Andrew were on the deck, so they let the turtle out of the box. Well, he wanted even more freedom, so he went to the edge of the deck, & stuck his head through the rails, but his shell saved him from plummeting to his death.
But 15 minutes later, Karie & Andrew heard a thud. The turtle went to the edge of the top stair where he balanced precariously before falling down to the next step. Before they could do anything, he did it again, thud. And slowly the turtle went to the end of the next step.
Well Andrew was so concerned the turtle would tumble down the stairs, he ran down, picked up the turtle, and carried him to the bottom of the stairs. Where the turtle showed his gratitude by reaching out and biting Andrew’s stomach. Andrew dropped the turtle. So now a tummy-biting turtle is on the loose somewhere on Paris Mountain.
This morning we’re going to see a man who was in a position much like that turtle. He was balancing precariously at point of indecision. Herod was waivering indecisively. He was paralyzed by doubt.
James uses a similar word for doubt, “Double-minded.” Have you ever felt like that? One part of your brain says, “This is what you should do.”But another part says, “But this is what I want to do.” James says, “A double-minded man is what in all his ways?” Unstable.
Maybe that’s how you feel this morning, like you have spiritual vertigo. You know what you should do. But this is what you want to do. And you’re torn. We saw last Sunday evening there’s a war in each of our hearts between Belief & Unbelief. Today we’re going to see that war play out in the heart of Herod.