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I have changed so much over the years. I look back on my teenage years and then my twenties and I see how much I have grown and how much my mindset has changed. There were styles and hobbies I used to be into, that I really don’t care for anymore. There were friends that I enjoyed being with that are just on such a different path than me now. I’m sure you can look back over your life and see how much you have changed, too.
The thing about the Lord is that He doesn’t change. Who He was when you were a teenager is the same now. Who He was when your grandma was a teenager is who He is now. Who He was when Cain and Able were teenagers is who He is now! The Bible says that He is the same yesterday, today, and forever. What He liked a thousand years ago, He likes today. What He didn’t approve of a thousand years ago, He doesn’t approve of today. How comforting is His consistency!
Did you know that God gave Moses more than the 10 commandments? He gave Moses and the Israelites such good guidelines to live by for all kinds of situations. I love reading all of the instructions God gave them because it gives me insight into what God says is good for my life and what He says is not. One section is particularly interesting to me.
Deuteronomy 18:9-14
“When you enter the land the Lord your God is giving you, be very careful not to imitate the detestable customs of the nations living there.
For example, never sacrifice your son or daughter as a burnt offering. And do not let your people practice fortune-telling, or use sorcery, or interpret omens, or engage in witchcraft, or cast spells, or function as mediums or psychics, or call forth the spirits of the dead.
Anyone who does these things is detestable to the Lord. It is because the other nations have done these detestable things that the Lord your God will drive them out ahead of you.
But you must be blameless before the Lord your God.
The nations you are about to displace consult sorcerers and fortune-tellers, but the Lord your God forbids you to do such things.”
Just because something is popular doesn’t mean that it is pleasing to the Lord. We live in a nation today that glamorizes witchcraft, psychics, and talking with the dead. It can be glamorized all it wants, but it does not change the fact that God finds them detestable. Not only do the practices repulse God, but the people doing them are detestable to God. God is opposed to people who practice fortune-telling and witchcraft. He groups them in with people who offer their children as burnt offerings to false gods. This is not something that is lighthearted in the eyes of God.
At some point, we have to decide to believe and trust that what God has shown us in His Word is true and good. If He has shown us that these practices are such an abomination to Him, why would we have any part of it? I pray that we as parents don’t offer these customs to our children on a silver platter when God has said to dump them in the garbage. If, for the love of money, people have tried to make witchcraft, fortune-telling, and mediums seem fun and cool, the least I can do is take no part in it.
The Lord forbids us to be involved with these evil practices. No matter how cool or fun the world has made them seem, families that belong to the Lord have no business being a part of it.
O Lord, You are the same yesterday, today, and forevermore. I see clearly in Your Word that You detest these works of darkness. Please help me teach my children to see the truth about these practices in a world that makes them seem so fun. I know that if they are detestable to You, my family does not need any part of it. Thank You for giving me wisdom on how to guide my family to You as situations may arise that glamorize witchcraft, fortune-telling, and interacting with the dead.