When I was growing up many moons ago, I and my classmates loved Halloween, tricks or treats and spooky movies. One costume I remember making was that of a bat. I worked hard on that costume. I do not have a photo to share, as my mother was not one for preserving memories.
Since we lived nine miles from any town, (literally nine miles from any town.) And our driveway was a half mile long, with the township cemetery at the end. (I am not joking) We did not get many trick or treaters at our home. We had to travel into town and had so much time to hit every house we could. We used pillow cases for candy sacks because we would cover a large area of houses in the small town of 500 or so people back then. I will not name the town or you will really think this is fiction! (No, it is not sleepy hollow.)
Back then people would hand out home made popcorn balls, caramel apples and salt water taffy along with the usual candies. It was safe and people trusted one another. These days I wouldn’t go to any house I did not know. I haven’t celebrated these types of “holidays” for some time now, and will tell you why. But first, let’s take a look at where this holiday originated from…
Click HERE to visit Wikipedia for a description. Halloween was actually an ancient Celtic (pagan)festival called Samhain, where they believed that the dead could walk amongst the living during this time on October 31st, which was also believed to be the beginning of the celtic new year. Once Christianity was introduced among the pagans, all saints day (November 1st) and all souls day (November 2nd) were introduced. These were days when folks would pray for and remember those who had died. Food would be left out on doorsteps and lanterns, so that loved ones could find their way back home.
Once our relatives made their way west to the United States, a lot of these customs traveled with them and eventually Halloween was named an official holiday and has since evolved into what it is today: a mixture of different cultural customs. Simply put, it is a man made holiday. This is the reason I have not acknowledged this for some time and will not celebrate it.
What does God’s book say about this? Let’s see….
Ephesians 5:11 – And have no fellowship with the unfruitful works of darkness, but rather reprove [them].
All saints day and all souls day were introduced as a way to attempt to keep Christianity from being abolished by co mingling with pagan beliefs.
Isaiah 5:20 – Woe unto them that call evil good, and good evil; that put darkness for light, and light for darkness; that put bitter for sweet, and sweet for bitter! The Lord makes it clear that he does not want his children to mingle with dark forces, as in Leviticus 19:31 – Regard not them that have familiar spirits, neither seek after wizards, to be defiled by them: I [am] the LORD your God.
In fact, the Bible does not mention any holiday, only His Sabbath (the 7th day, Saturday) and his appointed feasts. Had I known these things all along, my own offspring would have been properly educated in these matters and I would not need to point out my errors. If it were possible to include our Savior in these things, for it is written:
1 Corinthians 6:20 | For ye are bought with a price: therefore glorify God in your body, and in your spirit, which are God’s. And:
Philippians 4:8 |Finally, brethren, whatsoever things are true, whatsoever things are honest, whatsoever things are just, whatsoever things are pure, whatsoever things are lovely, whatsoever things are of good report; if there be any virtue, and if there be any praise, think on these things.
There is no way to glorify God by celebrating this man-made holiday which has less than holy roots, is there? So, is it a good thing to celebrate it at all? Is it a good thing to encourage children to dress up as goblins, or even princesses to go out and beg for candy? It seems ridiculous to me now and even daunting to go against the Lord’s wishes for us.
What was once a harmless day has become one to avoid for me. One last thing…as I began my journey to faith, I realized that many things of this world are not according to God’s plan, but are of our adversary satan, who really does exist.
Yes, satan does exist
Just as God created man and woman with free will, his angels also had free will. God does not demand our love or obedience. We are free to choose. Lucifer was an angel of light and was called son of the morning:
Isaiah 14:12 |How art thou fallen from heaven, O Lucifer, son of the morning! how art thou cut down to the ground, which didst weaken the nations! Lucifer was one of God’s beloved angels who became jealous of all the love and worship God received from the other angels. He decided that he would become like the most high and take for himself the heavenly throne.
He managed to sway one third of the angels to rebel against God, who were then cast down to earth where they remain today:
Revelation 12:9 |And the great dragon was cast out, that old serpent, called the Devil, and Satan, which deceiveth the whole world: he was cast out into the earth, and his angels were cast out with him.
In these times we now live in, satan and his angels are very busy. We see this in the surge of “paranormal” activity. The dead do not walk the earth as ghosts or spirits. What is going on then? It is the work of satan and his fallen angels, or demons as they are called. They delight in tricking people into thinking their late grandmother visits. These fallen angels know and see all that goes on and are very good at mimicking the deceased. I will get into this at another time. I think I have put enough on your plate to ponder for now. I do hope you will consider opening your Bible and reading the above passages. If you have never opened a Bible, begin at the beginning.
Until next time, make each and every day count for something!
Lisa
