Good Gracious
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Good Gracious
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As we look around town at the end of September and the beginning of October, we note the number of people who darken their properties with spiders, witches, graves, ghosts and evil icons of many kinds. Halloween has become one of the biggest decorating events of the year, almost approaching Christmas levels of decoration. Scary monsters now speak to you as you pass by, with the voice technology and motions sensors to know when to speak. The news media considers it quite newsworthy. I know most of us think: it’s just a bit of fun and doesn’t mean anything. Of course, the Scriptures warn us otherwise.
Be excellent in what is good, be innocent of evil…Romans 16:19.
It is a simple teaching. It has a lot to do with our thoughts and thought life. That is a place only you and the Lord have access to… But it also has to do with how we decorate and what we choose to accentuate or ignore. I had wished that Thanksgiving would have taken up that decorating place in our society that Halloween has taken, but alas, the turkeys and the Fall colours will do their part in that regard. Thanksgiving doesn’t have the rush and the “fun” of the darker holiday. But again Scripture helps us give God’s perspective:
…Give thanks in all circumstances, for this is God’s will for you in Christ Jesus.
1 Thessalonians 5:18
The other holiday in October is Reformation Sunday, and very few have heard of it. As that holiday reminds us, we can rejoice when we choose to give our lives, our congregation, our habits and desires anew to the Lord in October. We all need the transformation of the Lord in our lives. Let’s do what we can to honour God in all our activities and choices. Happy October!
Pastor Jonathan
