Elijah Now

It’s that time of year again. The stores are filled with costumes, candy, and characters from the dark side of our imaginations. Our family takes a fairly dim view of both the day and its trappings. We’d rather do our grocery shopping without the boys until after the end of October just to avoid ghoulish exposure. But many Christian families take their kids out trick or treating, believing that it’s  just innocent fun. I would simply ask, Is it BEST? Too often we ask the wrong question, “What’s wrong with it?” instead of asking a better question, “What is God’s best in this?”

Paul wrote in Phillipians 4:8 “Finally, brothers, whatever is true, whatever is honorable, whatever is just, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is commendable, if there is any excellence, if there is anything worthy of praise, think about these things.” ESV

I think God's best at this time of year will teach our kids to give rather than take, and focus on the light of our Savior rather than the darkness of the sinister.

When I was a kid the Pathfinder club always did a canned food drive on Halloween. We didn’t accept candy (although there were some little “rewards” waiting for us when we got back to the church!) and we wore our full dress uniforms. People were always thrilled with what we were doing and we had a great time. You may want to steer away from the 31^st altogether and plan a harvest celebration to enjoy the bounty of the season and thank God for blessing so abundantly. Or you may want to stay home with your house lights blazing and give away treats with kid oriented tracts. Pray, study, and make a plan. But don’t coast through another Halloween.