Light

Fall is here!  I don’t know about you, but I love fall.  The sweatshirts come out as the weather gets cooler.  It’s time for pumpkin spice – well anything, okay maybe not anything but bring on the pumpkin.  This year I am full on diving into making pumpkin, you name it, from home.  Knowing what’s in the food I consume is something I have been working more on.  Don’t get me wrong I still love me some good old ice cream.  On the regular eating ingredients that I know what they are and better yet when I can make something from home, (and trim out any unnecessary ingredients) the better for my overall health.

Just like it is important to know what we consume with the foods we eat the same can be said for everything that we take in.  Be it TV, social media, what you read, the places you go, the friends you have.  This last one may be a bit touchy but there’s no better time than October to bring this one up.  Halloween.  I’ll let that sink in for a minute.  Before you get defensive or start tuning me out stick with me for a minute.

I was brought up with not celebrating Halloween.  I got it as much as a young child could get it.  Really, I just saw that all the other kids got to go out dressed up as different things and get candy.  I never went trick or treating as a child and I remember being bummed by this.  However, as an adult I had opportunities to go out with my friends and their children.  A lot of churches even offer some form of trick or treat.  The most common probably being trunk or treat.  What’s the harm, it provides a safe place for the kids to come out to trick or treat and maybe the parents will bring the family to church.  Win – Win, right?

I want to back up a minute.  In the above paragraph is the following, “what’s the harm”.  We can agree Halloween for most is just about dressing up, having fun and getting candy, and lots of it.  I’m not even going to dig too much into the don’t take candy from strangers’ aspect of Halloween that’s an entirely different topic.  My older brother went trick or treating one year when we were younger and I remember my dad had to take his candy to be x-rayed for needles. Enough said there.  Getting back on the topic of “what’s the harm” in trick or treating or even celebrating Halloween and handing cand out (even if it is wrapped in a bible or a bible verse). 

To understand why Halloween is not safe is to understand what is being celebrated.  As a holiday either celebrates something or remembers something.  A friend of mine spent a bit of her life down south and she learned all about it.  I am going to pause and acknowledge that you can find different backgrounds when it comes to Halloween, however I think most if not all would agree Halloween is evil.  By dressing up in these Halloween costumes one is symbolically taking on an identity other than their God given identity.  By handing out candy (yes even if including bible verses) you are symbolically letting the spirits into your home. 

I don’t have regular tv anymore, but I remember when I did back 6 years ago the commercials around Halloween were so bad.  They were downright evil.  If something is evil, how can it be good?  Better yet if something is evil, how can it be Godly?  The answer to both is it cannot be good and it cannot be Godly.  Yes, there are costumes out there that are cute and fun however there are also those that choose to dress up as the devil.  One year I witnessed a trunk or treat at a church where one of the decorations the car had was an enormous blow-up devil.  How do you handle this, when a church wants to provide a safe place for kids to trick or treat, but does not want to offend those outside of the church; as these people may just not know.  To be honest I don’t even know if the car decorated was someone from the church or someone just partaking in the event.

While celebrating Halloween will not make a difference in salvation and going to heaven, but it will make a difference in your family, in your home, in you.  Remember when we started, I mentioned other things that we take in from tv, to social medial, and reading.  The same can be said for each of these.  Partaking in Halloween or anything you wouldn’t want Jesus sitting next to you doing is providing an opening for the enemy.

Recently, I have been having a hard time finding something “good” to watch.  Like I mentioned before I don’t have regular tv.  What I have is streaming and most is free.  I don’t want to pay for tv when there is more negative content than good.  A recent show I was watching is probably 12 years old (maybe more).  It started off good and clean.  Little by little a scene here or there would not sit right with me.  A line here or there was not what I expected from the show.  At least not how it started out.  I found myself fast-forwarding through a lot of the show.  I eventually decided to stop watching the show.

I want to focus in on how the show started out good and clean and slowly shifted.  Most things now a days follow the spotlight.  What is getting ratings?  As followers of Jesus Christ, we are to shine his light.  The way we do this is by not going with the flow and just jumping on board with the newest thing.  It can be hard at times, but we are called to follow Jesus not the new fad.  When you can stand your ground and say no that’s not for me you shine Jesus’s light for others to see Him. 

Maybe it’s:

Not going out to eat where your friends are all going, because the restaurant logo is the devil. 

Skipping out on the movie everyone is going to. 

Say no, to the next book in your book club.

Passing on Halloween.

Is God tugging at your heart to skip on something this season, be it Halloween or anything else?  If so, have the conversation with God.  Hear him out but remember sometimes we might not understand why God is saying this is not for you.  God may be calling you to live differently in an area that is good but in order for you to reach those he is preparing you for he needs you to pass on these things too.