Halloween ~October 31~ Who will you choose to honor this day? God or Satan?

This blog post is dedicated to any Christian still wondering whether or not to celebrate the holiday Halloween. 

I can personally say that at first, it was difficult to avoid celebrating the holiday Halloween after many years of participating in all its activities. October 31 used to be, without question, one of my favorite holidays. For 38 years, I thought that celebrating Halloween was "just harmless fun."

Then, one night God opened my eyes to the origins of each of the customs of Halloween. The more I discovered, the more I realized that none of Halloween's holiday activities were ever meant to glorify Jesus Christ! Not one custom reflected the light I had found in our Lord and Savior. On the contrary, devil costumes on babies, black ghouls hanging from trees and carving pumpkins in honor of a story about the devil himself, seemed to encourage a night of darkness without Him.    

As a result, I decided that on this particular day of the year, October 31, I was no longer going to worship the traditions of the world. Instead, I would choose to worship my savior, Jesus Christ.

Halloween Customs Broken Down

Halloween- Celts believed that on the night before the new year, the boundary between the worlds of the living and the dead became blurred. On the night of October 31 they celebrated Samhain, when it was believed that the ghosts of the dead returned to earth. In addition to causing trouble and damaging crops, Celts thought that the presence of the otherworldly spirits made it easier for the Druids, or Celtic priests, to make predictions about the future. For a people entirely dependent on the volatile natural world, these prophecies were an important source of comfort and direction during the long, dark winter. http://www.history.com/topics/halloween

Carving a Pumpkin into a Jack O' Lantern- This custom is based on the tale called "Stingy Jack," and is about an alcoholic in a bar who tricks the devil for one more drink. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stingy_Jack

Dressing up in Halloween Costumes-On Halloween, when it was believed that ghosts came back to the earthly world, people thought that they would encounter ghosts if they left their homes. To avoid being recognized by these ghosts, people would wear masks when they left their homes after dark so that the ghosts would mistake them for fellow spirits. http://www.history.com/topics/halloween

Handing out Candy on Halloween night-ancient practice of leaving food and wine for roaming spirits. The practice was referred to as "going a-souling." http://www.history.com/topics/halloween

Decorating your home for Halloween Fright Night-To commemorate the event, Druids built huge sacred bonfires, where the people gathered to burn crops and animals as sacrifices to the Celtic deities. During the celebration, the Celts wore costumes, typically consisting of animal heads and skins, and attempted to tell each other's fortunes. When the celebration was over, they re-lit their hearth fires, which they had extinguished earlier that evening, from the sacred bonfire to help protect them during the coming winter. http://www.history.com/topics/halloween

Perhaps God is tugging on your heart on this October 31, 2016. And maybe He is causing you to wonder, "Should I really be participating in this holiday and still calling myself one of His followers?" Why not choose to avoid the holiday this year. Honor God instead. Then, watch how God blesses you in some personal way, as He has done for me the past 8 years!  

Please share your thoughts in the comments section below!

To read this author's personal testimony please go to: http://dlouyoung.blogspot.com/p/store.html