What Will Be Your Costume?
Don't you hate it when you second guess yourself? The other day I said something so quickly and without thought that I began to wonder about the three words I said without thinking. I was heading to one of the several coffee shops in the area to get some work done online. Walking towards me is a young woman with her son who is maybe five years old or so. I hear her explaining to him that witches are not real and that he shouldn't be afraid of what other kids in school are telling him. That day when people dress up like all kinds of strange things is closely approaching the cultures who participate and celebrate dressing up as something they are not. Out are coming the decorations, out are going the parents to shop for the costumes their children most desire and out is almost everyone looking for the hottest costume that will get the most attention from others.
As I am about to pass them on my path, the little boy happens to look up at me. We make eye contact and I say to him "no such thing."
I hear the mom continue with "see, he knows..." and her voice fades away as we continue traveling in opposite directions. For a moment I am not giving it much thought, hoping that I helped alleviate the little boy's worries. But my brain begins to go into overdrive and into processing mode as I think that I may have just lied to that little boy! I begin to be conflicted. The story of the witch / medium of Endor is coming across my mind like headline news. The people of God were instructed to only inquire of the Lord through prayer, appointed prophets and a few other ways, but not through self-appointed spiritists or mediums, even though such people can and do possess certain gifts / powers / abilities. I think about how I would have explained this or anything else in the short moments our paths crossed without sounding utterly ridiculous or weirdly religious.
As the day continues and I get through some work at the coffee shop, my mind revisits what may have been a lie to that little boy. I can't stand lies for they do much harm.
I have had experiences that gives evidence of what could be called witchcraft; not me personally doing such things but hearing about what others have done. I have also seen evidence of such dark work, so this is what is bothering me regarding my quick three words to that young boy.
I begin to consider if God created evil at any point in time. The answer is a resounding no!
God saw all that he had made, and it was very good. And there was evening, and there was morning - the sixth day.
- Genesis 1:31
God created mankind with the capacity to have the freedom of choice and initially only asked their obedience to one simple command.
The Lord God took the man and put him in the Garden of Eden to work it and take care of it. And the Lord God commanded the man, “You are free to eat from any tree in the garden; but you must not eat from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, for when you eat from it you will certainly die.”
- Genesis 2:15-17
From that freedom of choice, mankind has brought about both blessings and curses for himself, for others and for the rest of God's creation ( good things from obedience and bad things from disobedience ). There are consequences that stem from the choices we make in life. You can read what the consequence was going to be if the couple in the garden were to choose to disobey that single command.
See, I am setting before you today a blessing and a curse - the blessing if you obey the commands of the Lord your God that I am giving you today; the curse if you disobey the commands of the Lord your God and turn from the way that I command you today by following other gods, which you have not known.
- Deuteronomy 11:26-28
I'd like to point out that people the world over have made gods for themselves. Some resemble birds, others people and others are objects and fantastic looking things, like half people and half animals. But consider this; just because someone put something together and called it a 'god' doesn't make it real, right? And just because something is invented and given a name doesn't make it known or good, even if the entire world is convinced to run after it and compelled to deal with it.
We could use the example of money as a type of 'god' and 'idea' which has been made by men. Money in paper form is simply that; a piece of paper! It is the belief in that piece of paper that convinces others that it is valuable, but it still is a piece of paper. Yet, the world seems to be running after it because that's the only thing accepted for payment of bills, the rent, the mortgage, food, etc.. But it isn't real, as far as it being something of "real" value. Practically the same amount of ink goes into making a dollar bill as goes into making a hundred dollar bill, yet one is perceived to be one hundred times more valuable than the other. Think about this. The people of the world believe this because that is what they have been taught to believe, yet it still is a piece of paper, regardless of how fancy it looks or the amount of zeros it has.
Expanding further with the invention of ideas that people are made to follow and obey, let's look at the native population in the western hemisphere prior to the people of Europe venturing into those lands. With the Europeans came the idea of owning land. This idea didn't exist in the minds of the natives prior to European intervention. It could be argued that this idea brought with it more harm than good to the native peoples and manifested life quite differently for them than what they were accustomed to. That idea was quite obscure and ridiculous to them; the idea of owning something not made by man but already in existence... and man 'dependent' on it and it not dependent on man. Those who traveled across the ocean had brought a foreign concept to the natives and pushed this along with many other ideas onto them, changing their lives forever.
Much the same thing happens when people make a choice, whether good or bad. Choices have lasting consequences on those making choices and on those around them.
To the notion of a witch / medium and whether I did in fact lie to that boy, I must consider some things and ask if God created witches or created people specifically with the purpose to have them work in the dark realms. For some religions and religious people, the notion of evil or Satan is not believed. Perhaps they desire not to think about evil out of fear, or perhaps they desire to simply ignore it or maybe they really do not believe such a menacing entity exists. I don't think it is a question of having to 'believe in' an entity like that, but more to recognize that those things unfortunately do exist.
But, 'why' does evil exist then?
Considering evil and Satan, the chain of events stem from disobedience to the Creator's purpose. Remember that freedom of choice I mentioned and how that couple in the garden brought about the consequences of their disobedience? Satan was an angel of light that was also created with the freedom of choice that man was created with. And as Adam and Eve made a fateful choice in the garden one day, Satan also made a fateful choice.
You were anointed as a guardian cherub, for so I ordained you. You were on the holy mount of God; you walked among the fiery stones. You were blameless in your ways from the day you were created till wickedness was found in you. Through your widespread trade you were filled with violence, and you sinned. So I drove you in disgrace from the mount of God, and I expelled you, guardian cherub, from among the fiery stones. Your heart became proud on account of your beauty, and you corrupted your wisdom because of your splendor. So I threw you to the earth; I made a spectacle of you before kings.
- Ezekiel 28:14-17
So we see that God didn't create what became of that guardian cherub. That guardian cherub brought about what its disobedience manifested. God also did not create witches, but some people have decided to play with fire so to speak. Instead of pursuing things of the light, some people have decided to pursue things of the dark. Just like people have made false gods for themselves, made things to fool others and made some ideas to control others, so also people have called themselves something they were not created to be.
You have the freedom of choice to call yourself what you'd like. You can call yourself a democrat, a republican, a communist, a capitalist, a witch, a hater, a ____ ( the list goes on ). But let's see what in fact God created you to be:
So God created mankind in his own image, in the image of God he created them; male and female he created them.
- Genesis 1:27
I suggest you choose 'who' you were created to be: a son / daughter of God.
I suggest you put this 'costume' on, not only at the end of this month, but every day of your life!
As I am about to pass them on my path, the little boy happens to look up at me. We make eye contact and I say to him "no such thing."
I hear the mom continue with "see, he knows..." and her voice fades away as we continue traveling in opposite directions. For a moment I am not giving it much thought, hoping that I helped alleviate the little boy's worries. But my brain begins to go into overdrive and into processing mode as I think that I may have just lied to that little boy! I begin to be conflicted. The story of the witch / medium of Endor is coming across my mind like headline news. The people of God were instructed to only inquire of the Lord through prayer, appointed prophets and a few other ways, but not through self-appointed spiritists or mediums, even though such people can and do possess certain gifts / powers / abilities. I think about how I would have explained this or anything else in the short moments our paths crossed without sounding utterly ridiculous or weirdly religious.
As the day continues and I get through some work at the coffee shop, my mind revisits what may have been a lie to that little boy. I can't stand lies for they do much harm.
I have had experiences that gives evidence of what could be called witchcraft; not me personally doing such things but hearing about what others have done. I have also seen evidence of such dark work, so this is what is bothering me regarding my quick three words to that young boy.
I begin to consider if God created evil at any point in time. The answer is a resounding no!
God saw all that he had made, and it was very good. And there was evening, and there was morning - the sixth day.
- Genesis 1:31
God created mankind with the capacity to have the freedom of choice and initially only asked their obedience to one simple command.
The Lord God took the man and put him in the Garden of Eden to work it and take care of it. And the Lord God commanded the man, “You are free to eat from any tree in the garden; but you must not eat from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, for when you eat from it you will certainly die.”
- Genesis 2:15-17
From that freedom of choice, mankind has brought about both blessings and curses for himself, for others and for the rest of God's creation ( good things from obedience and bad things from disobedience ). There are consequences that stem from the choices we make in life. You can read what the consequence was going to be if the couple in the garden were to choose to disobey that single command.
See, I am setting before you today a blessing and a curse - the blessing if you obey the commands of the Lord your God that I am giving you today; the curse if you disobey the commands of the Lord your God and turn from the way that I command you today by following other gods, which you have not known.
- Deuteronomy 11:26-28
I'd like to point out that people the world over have made gods for themselves. Some resemble birds, others people and others are objects and fantastic looking things, like half people and half animals. But consider this; just because someone put something together and called it a 'god' doesn't make it real, right? And just because something is invented and given a name doesn't make it known or good, even if the entire world is convinced to run after it and compelled to deal with it.
We could use the example of money as a type of 'god' and 'idea' which has been made by men. Money in paper form is simply that; a piece of paper! It is the belief in that piece of paper that convinces others that it is valuable, but it still is a piece of paper. Yet, the world seems to be running after it because that's the only thing accepted for payment of bills, the rent, the mortgage, food, etc.. But it isn't real, as far as it being something of "real" value. Practically the same amount of ink goes into making a dollar bill as goes into making a hundred dollar bill, yet one is perceived to be one hundred times more valuable than the other. Think about this. The people of the world believe this because that is what they have been taught to believe, yet it still is a piece of paper, regardless of how fancy it looks or the amount of zeros it has.
Expanding further with the invention of ideas that people are made to follow and obey, let's look at the native population in the western hemisphere prior to the people of Europe venturing into those lands. With the Europeans came the idea of owning land. This idea didn't exist in the minds of the natives prior to European intervention. It could be argued that this idea brought with it more harm than good to the native peoples and manifested life quite differently for them than what they were accustomed to. That idea was quite obscure and ridiculous to them; the idea of owning something not made by man but already in existence... and man 'dependent' on it and it not dependent on man. Those who traveled across the ocean had brought a foreign concept to the natives and pushed this along with many other ideas onto them, changing their lives forever.
Much the same thing happens when people make a choice, whether good or bad. Choices have lasting consequences on those making choices and on those around them.
To the notion of a witch / medium and whether I did in fact lie to that boy, I must consider some things and ask if God created witches or created people specifically with the purpose to have them work in the dark realms. For some religions and religious people, the notion of evil or Satan is not believed. Perhaps they desire not to think about evil out of fear, or perhaps they desire to simply ignore it or maybe they really do not believe such a menacing entity exists. I don't think it is a question of having to 'believe in' an entity like that, but more to recognize that those things unfortunately do exist.
But, 'why' does evil exist then?
Considering evil and Satan, the chain of events stem from disobedience to the Creator's purpose. Remember that freedom of choice I mentioned and how that couple in the garden brought about the consequences of their disobedience? Satan was an angel of light that was also created with the freedom of choice that man was created with. And as Adam and Eve made a fateful choice in the garden one day, Satan also made a fateful choice.
You were anointed as a guardian cherub, for so I ordained you. You were on the holy mount of God; you walked among the fiery stones. You were blameless in your ways from the day you were created till wickedness was found in you. Through your widespread trade you were filled with violence, and you sinned. So I drove you in disgrace from the mount of God, and I expelled you, guardian cherub, from among the fiery stones. Your heart became proud on account of your beauty, and you corrupted your wisdom because of your splendor. So I threw you to the earth; I made a spectacle of you before kings.
- Ezekiel 28:14-17
So we see that God didn't create what became of that guardian cherub. That guardian cherub brought about what its disobedience manifested. God also did not create witches, but some people have decided to play with fire so to speak. Instead of pursuing things of the light, some people have decided to pursue things of the dark. Just like people have made false gods for themselves, made things to fool others and made some ideas to control others, so also people have called themselves something they were not created to be.
You have the freedom of choice to call yourself what you'd like. You can call yourself a democrat, a republican, a communist, a capitalist, a witch, a hater, a ____ ( the list goes on ). But let's see what in fact God created you to be:
So God created mankind in his own image, in the image of God he created them; male and female he created them.
- Genesis 1:27
I suggest you choose 'who' you were created to be: a son / daughter of God.
I suggest you put this 'costume' on, not only at the end of this month, but every day of your life!
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