This time of year

This is the time of year when I am faced with ambivalence.  I love the cooler days.  The smell of fall and smoke rising from chimneys makes me breathe deeper.  The vibrant colors that line the streets and highways make my heart dance.  Then...I walk into a store and am greeted by ugly witch masks, flashing-eyed skeletons, and wispy spider webs and my husband hears the phrase that he is quite sick of hearning by now, "I HATE halloween." 
If you read my previous post about halloween, you know why I despise it.  It doesn't matter how sanitized our culture wants to make this holiday, it's origins are not Christian and I will therefore have no part in it.  Neopagans, wiccans, whatever will tell you the origins of the holiday do not have anyone worshipping the devil.  They are worshipping the earth, celebrating and praying to dead ancestors, marking the end of one season and the beginning of another.  Well the Bible teaches that there are two masters a person can serve; GOD or satan.  If you're not serving one, you're serving the other by default.  That dosn't mean if you aren't out casting spells or wearing a pentagram that you are serving Christ.  Being a follower of Christ goes much deeper than NOT doing something.  To be a follower of CHrist you must walk the Roman Road to salvation.

Romans 3:23  "For all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God."  This means that none of us is able to be "good" enough.  When an archer is aiming for the bullseye and his arrow falls to the ground before even nearing the target, he is falling short of his aim.  We are the same and can never reach the glory of GOD on our own.

Romans 6:23  "For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord."  This means that the continual "falling short" or sin is punishable only with death.  There is only one alternative and that is Jesus Christ.

Romans 5:8  ""But God demonstrates His own love toward us, in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us."   There are times when someone will give his life to save the life of a good man.  How often do you see someone give their life for an evil, dispicable person?  That is what Jesus did.  Before we even knew there was a better way, He died so that we might be saved from death.

Romans 10:9, "that if you confess with your mouth Jesus as Lord, and believe in your heart that God raised Him from the dead, you will be saved."   God provided a way for us to escape death, His son, Jesus.  It just requires that we openly confess that Jesus is who He says He is and that we truly believe it in our hearts.

Romans 10:13  "for everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved."   It is not just a special few who have been offered this gift of life instead of punishment by death.  EVERYONE means EVERYONE.

Romans 5:1 "Therefore, since we have been justified through faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ."   When we accept the gift of salvation, we are justified, saved, set aside so we don't have to suffer the punishment of death.  We can live in peace knowing that we belong to Christ.

John 3:16

"For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life.