by John Grant
Grant is a former Florida State Senator and is a practicing attorney
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“I will rescue you from your own people and from the Gentiles. I am sending you to them to open their eyes and turn them from darkness to light, and from the power of Satan to God, so that they may receive forgiveness of sins and a place among those who are sanctified by faith in me.“Â Acts 26:17-18
The cashier handed me back my credit card and gave me a receipt, while saying “Happy Holidays.� Holidays? Isn’t it a little early for Thanksgiving and Christmas. “No,� she said…… “this is Halloween.� Maybe it is my imagination, but it seems that Halloween has been ratcheted up a notch or two this year.
The stores are full of Halloween merchandise and it seems that there are neighborhood decorations like I have never seen before. Houses in my neighborhood are all decked out with orange lights and all kinds of grotesque characters adorn front lawns. One house down the street have even erected a cemetery on the front lawn complete with tombstones and an iron fence over which a witch hangs from a tree.
It is as if the Devil himself is celebrating and bragging that he now has this country in his firm grip and wants to beef up his holiday. Historically, it was a Christian holiday, known as “All Hallows Eve,� since the day following was “All Saints Day,� an official day of worship and celebration in the Catholic Church. Later, it became a day of “harvest Festival,� noting the completion of gathering in the crops before the winds and cold of winter set in.
But, slowly and meticulously Satan moved in to take over and declare it his day. It is a holiday that generally glorifies the dark things of this world, rather than the light of Jesus Christ, The Truth. Have you noticed how costumes and masks are getting generally more bloody, gory, and depraved each year? Unfortunately, the gruesome and grotesque and the occult are increasingly glorified in American society, not only on Halloween, but throughout the year in horror movies and in television programs.
Halloween has become a Satanic holiday and Christians have no place to be involved in it. Satan loves Halloween because it glamorizes the powers of darkness, drawing little kids into his realm. And it is paying off. Witchcraft is exploding among teens today. SO, I encourage you to pass this year on celebrating Halloween and find a good Christian Halloween alternative.
(a thought on life from John Grant )
You can comment on this devotional online at:
http://thoughtsaboutgod.com/blog/2009/10/28/jg_holiday/