Halloween - Part 1

This is one of those holidays where I struggle. As a believer, I’m not terribly fond of a holiday that celebrates death, evil and fear. Those just are not real uplifting themes to me.

Yet, aren’t these things just as real as life, joy and peace? Maybe it’s my natural reaction to not want to think of myself as mortal. I don’t really want to dwell on how short life is and how quickly it’s over. But the truth is – death and evil and fear are very much alive (no pun intended) in our world today.

So, what a good time to reflect on what’s my life about. What’s really important to me? Our next holiday is thanksgiving (which I like a lot more than Halloween), but the truth is without the bad there wouldn’t be much reason to celebrate the good. So, what am I thankful for and what am I doing with my life? Great questions!

A few friends and I are in the very first stages of starting a new church. What a great time! And yet, it so easy to start worrying about all of the things that could go wrong… a little fear comes into view. And what about the one who does not want us to succeed… feels like evil is close by. And what if this whole thing falls apart…what if the dream…dies? You see even in the good things there are the not-so-good things. So what does all this mean? I don’t know – at least not fully. But I do know that I want to live life to the full. This reminds me of my favorite verse – John 10:10 – Jesus says, “The thief's (talking about the Devil) purpose is to steal and kill and destroy. My (Jesus) purpose is to give them a rich and satisfying life.”

I guess this means the choice is ours – we can either take whatever life (and the Devil) throw at us, or we can seek to live for Jesus and find true life – in fact, eternal life.