Dedication and Devotion
(Exodus 22:18, 28-30; 23:23, 29; 31:12-17; 34:19-21, 26; 35:1-3)
(Leviticus 19:3, 23-26, 30-31; 20:6-8, 27; 23:1-3; 24:10-16, 23; 26:12)
(Numbers 15:32-36)
(Deuteronomy 5:11-15; 13:1-5; 14:22-29; 15:19-23; 18:1-22; 26:1-15)
Detestable Ways
Moses made no bones about warning God’s people of the dangers of imitating destructive and divinely detestable ways of those who do not follow the Lord. Today’s Bible readings detail many dangerous and dastardly practices, which lure many souls even today.
How deliberately do we consider our decisions to participate in such things? How purposefully do we evaluate our entertainment options, our social associations and our lifestyle choices? For example, what does God’s Word say about the following?
Which of these are potentially harmful to us and offensive to the Lord, and which might be considered acceptable?
Animorphs
Astrological charting
Card tricks
Care Bears
Charms and spells
Crystals
Digimon
Dungeons and Dragons
Fortune cookies
Fortune tellers
Gothic clothing and accessories
Heavy metal music
Hex sign
Horoscopes
Horseshoe
Illusionism
Life beads
Magic 8 balls
Magic tricks
Mood rings
My Little Pony
NeoPets
Numerology
Ouija boards
Palm reading
Pokemon
Rabbit’s foot
Rainbow Brite
Role-playing games
Scary movies
Shrek
Skulls on clothing or decor
Tarot cards
Tea leaf readings
Trolls
How can you tell whether any of these are actually occultic or not? Do you know the tell-tale signs? What if an item or practice seems harmless, or even cute? What if an item comes in a child’s fast-food meal bag or as a birthday party favor? Is it really harmful or evil?
Which of these television programs and movies are innocuous, and which are truly occult-oriented and offensive to God?
Alien
Angel
Beetlejuice
Bewitched
The Black Cauldron
Bram Stoker’s Dracula
Buffy the Vampire Slayer
Casper the Friendly Ghost
Charmed
Cinderella
The Dead Zone
The Exorcist
Fantasia
Frankenstein
Friday the 13th
Halloween
Harry Potter
The Invisible Man
Interview with the Vampire
The Little Mermaid
The Lion King
The Lord of the Rings
Macbeth
Medium
Monsters Inc.
The Nightmare Before Christmas
Nightmare on Elm Street
Poltergeist
Rocky Horror Picture Show
Sabrina the Teenage Witch
Scooby Doo
Seven
The Shining
The Sixth Sense
Sleeping Beauty
Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs
Spirited Away
The Texas Chainsaw Massacre
Twitches
Wicked
The Witches
The Wizard of Oz
The Wizards of Waverly Place
The X Files
Should the believer rule out all books, games, movies and television programs that contain fantasy or magic? Is there really any difference between white magic and black magic, or a good witch and a bad witch?
Perhaps the most important issue is that we actually stop and evaluate our choices, rather than blindly accepting whatever is culturally popular.
Here’s a great guideline from God:
“’Consecrate yourselves and be holy,
because I am the Lord your God.
Keep My decrees and follow them.
I am the Lord, who makes you holy.’”
Will you pray with me?
God,
Most Holy and High,
Please open our hearts
And our eyes
To see any detestable practices
We may have allowed in our lives
Or in our homes.
Give us Your wisdom
To discern
What pleases you
And what is harmful and destructive.
Guide us to remove
Or destroy
Anything that does not honor You.
Teach us to love
The things You love
And to loathe
The things that dishonor You.
Amen.
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