Should we celebrate Halloween?

In all honesty, only you can answer that question. I'll go straight to the point,  I've already made my choice (no, thanks) , but in the end, it's up to you. Let's go!

The first thing we're going to do is look at the history behind Halloween. Before we do, I want you to be aware that the reason why we're looking at the history is not to bore you or creep you out! It's to see what events inspired the 'holiday' many celebrate. The word "Halloween" is a shortened version of "All Hallows Eve." Many rituals from "All Hallows Eve" come from the a Celtic celebration known as the Samhain. In a nutshell, the Celts believed that during this time the evil spirits would come out into the world along with the souls of the dead. As Christians we know that once people die, they either go to Heaven or Hell after the judgement. We can rest assured knowing that Jesus is protecting us every step of the way, but unfortunately the Celts of that time didn't have that reassurance. In order to 'protect' themselves, they would wear costumes (sound familiar?) to keep their identities a secret from any evil spirits. In some places, children would go door to door gathering food for the party or fuel for the bonfires. 

Alright! Now that we've had a brief look at the history of Halloween, let's have a good look at what the most reliable book ever made has to say. Which book might that be? You guessed it, the Bible! 

John 14:6 says, "Jesus answered, 'I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the father except through me.'"

Here's some food for thought, if we are Jesus' children and we wish to act like Him, that means we are children of the way, the truth, and the life. So what are children of life doing celebrating death? It's a nasty game the one the devil's playing, but it's up to us to step up to the plate and spread the Good News, as well as educate others about what's right and wrong. 

"When Jesus spoke again to the people, He said, 'I am the Light of the World. Whoever follows me will never walk in darkness, but have the light of life.'" John 8:12 

Something very interesting about this verse is the fact that it mentions that not only will we have the light, but we will have the light of life. Halloween is a celebration that revolves around darkness and mystic "arts." This might sound harsh, but it's the truth, if we truly wish to follow Jesus, we must be willing to give up the darkness of the world. We must have the courage to stand up, look the world in the eye and say, "No, I'm not doing it." 

In Deuteronomy 18: 9-13, we are told not to take part in any occult practices. Evil, dark, and wicked practices are described as detestable to our Lord. Let's put it this way: Let's say that Jack and Amy are best friends. Amy detests kiwis, so Jack doesn't force her to eat kiwis, since he cares about her and wants her to be happy. The same thing applies to doing things that our God detests. Jesus is our best friend, and we want Him to happy and pleased with us, so we don't want to do anything that he detests so that we do not displease Him. 

"... and find out what pleases the Lord. Have nothing to do with the fruitless deeds of darkness, but rather expose them." Ephesians 5: 10-11

Last but not least, we are told to have nothing to do with the darkness, and expose it. What does that mean? Well, to have nothing to do with the darkness means that you won't associate with it. To expose the darkness is exactly what you're reading right now. The enemy is constantly going after people, both young and old to attempt to make them follow what he believes. He'll stop at nothing to keep people quiet. He's not some semi-bad guy that's trying to harm us just a bit, no, he's trying to destroy us. Our route of escape from that destruction is Jesus. Let me ask you a question, if you and your friends were drowning and suddenly someone gave you enough life preservers to save everyone, would you keep them all to yourself? Of course not! You'd save everyone! The same thing works with the Good News, we must spread them around to expose the darkness of the world so Christ's light can shine brighter than ever before! In the end, it's your choice whether you celebrate Halloween or not, but as it is written in Joshua 24:15, "As for me and my house, we will serve the Lord." 

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