So do not fear, for I am with you; do not be dismayed, for I am your God. I will strengthen you and help you; I will uphold you with my righteous right hand. —-Isaiah 41:10
Last week on the way to a retreat, a friend asked me: What are something that you are very proud of? After thinking for a while, I said, I used to be very proud of my academic performance, but now, I am proud of being a child of God. I used to feel so much shame and fear when it comes to talk about things happen in the past, but now, when I share my story with my friends, they are very surprise that I even have so much joy in my heart. Of course, I also tell them, it is all because of the Gospel, following Jesus convert my life. He saves me; he delivered me from the past; he set me free, truly free!
After coming home today, I was laying down on my bed enjoying my nap, and then I heard someone knocking the door saying ” Treat or Trick”. At that moment, I realized I couldn’t be able to have a good nap—it is Halloween Eve! Kids were very excited in their customs going out to the neighborhood asking for candies. This reminds me a question that’s been frequently asked in the Christian community—Should Christian celebrate Halloween? I don’t usually know how to answer this kind of should or should not questions. Jesus seldom answer questions in a way telling “should” or “can “. He rarely gave answer directly, instead, he would dig deeper into the behavior responding to more fundamental problems with the Gospel. When kids play ” Trick or Treat”, I don’t think that they fully understand the story behind Halloween, what they want is probably candies and dressing up in their favorite customs.
Talking about “Trick or Treat”, why kids are so into Halloween? Jesus said we cannot serve God and mammon at the same time. Kids are probably too young to understand that. Most kids probably doesn’t care the history of Halloween, but they will treat Halloween as a “gospel moment” in their life. They can be who they want to be and be respected from their peers. And most importantly, they can live a life they want for a day—getting candies and tricking–these are two things that is not commonly allowed in a daily basis. Today, they can freely announce ” I want candies!”, ” I don’t like rules!” Unfortunately, days like this only happen once a year.
One interesting thing I found out is that kids will never go ask for candies alone, they travel in packs. Usually only few kids in the group would ask for candies, but it always end up everyone would get the candies. Isn’t that like God wants us to be the blessings of others and also experience the free grace?
The Gospel gives me a new life, it gives me a new identity in Christ. And it let me live out the way I should. God knows the real me, the broken me, but he still accept me with love…
Wow…How beautiful the Gospel it is!