Each year, the "Dia de los Muertos" or Day of the Dead, becomes more popular in the United States. Most people think this festivity originated in Mexico, but if you read a little about it, you will find that many countries have similar traditions. Not all of them celebrate it on October 31. Some do on November 1 or 2.
No matter where or when these celebrations occur, they all have in common that the people who celebrate them build colorful altars on which they put "offerings" of fruit and other goodies for their dead loved ones. They believe that their dead relatives visit the family and enjoy whatever they leave for them on their altars.
I don't have a problem with the world celebrating cultural traditions involving fruit left on altars, especially if we consider that a few centuries ago in our continent, some cultural traditions included human sacrifices. Nevertheless, I have a problem with the Church of Jesus Christ celebrating such festivities.
First, the Bible asks us not to copy the behavior and customs of the world (Romans 12:2). Many churchgoers who celebrate Halloween or Dia de Muertos insist they use these celebrations for evangelistic purposes. Still, if we are honest, it is hard to preach Jesus' resurrection with a yard full of zombies or skeletons.
Second, if you have read the Bible, you know spirits cannot return from the dead. Hebrews 9:27 tells us that people are destined to die once, and after this comes judgment. No matter what goodies people have on their altars, none of their relatives can return from the dead.
Third, there are only two beneficiaries of Halloween and Dia de Muertos, the stores that sell all those decorations, candies, costumes, and everything else people use to celebrate such holiday, and satan, who gets to see how people celebrate death, the occult, witchcraft, spiritism and many other forms of darkness and mixtures.
Friends, it is effortless to be influenced by what is popular, cultural, or politically correct, but 2 Corinthians 6:17 says, "Therefore, come out from among them and be separate, says the Lord." As children of God, we must be careful. Remember, we live in this world, but we are not of this world. Godliness and the occult do not mix.
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