There is one more realization I experience as I pass so many of the homes in our neighborhood decorated for Halloween. It is not just about “Darkness versus Light” and “Death versus Life,” there is a third truth that comes to mind. Ugly versus Beautiful.
I pass gruesome masks, skeletons, witches with hideous faces, bloody heads dangling from porches. I see not one thing of beauty connected to this holiday.
Our focus, as believers, is never to be on the ugliness or viciousness that comes with this holiday (or even with this life). Paul was clear when he said that we are to always seek “whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable-if anything is excellent or praiseworthy-think about such things.” [Philippians 4:8]
I get enough ugliness with the world news I don’t need to be reminded by decorating my house in it. Instead, I take joy in the beauty of God’s creation, the skies, the ocean, the mountains. I take delight in the flowers that bloom, in the bountiful harvests that come in the autumn, in the joy on the face of a child at Christmas. I take comfort in the Words of God’s promises that I find in my Bible. Those are the things on which I dwell.
I find myself praying with the psalmist, “One thing I ask of the LORD, this is what I seek: that I may dwell in the house of the LORD all the days of my life, to gaze upon the beauty of the LORD and to seek him in his temple.” [Psalm 27:4]
I want a headstart gazing upon the Beauty of the LORD. I want to dwell in His Presence all the days of my life. I want to spend my time seeking Him in His temple instead of wasting it on an unpleasant holiday. Amen&Amen