MANNA:  July 13...Friday the 13th.

It's Friday the 13th.
No doubt, there are a number of superstitious folks out there looking into all sorts of ways to avoid calamity today.  After all, Friday 13th is a day that we all should dread, a day in which the devil is unleashed on us all....right?

If you believe superstitions like this you would have to conclude that hospital ERs would be bracing themselves for an overwhelming onslaught of patients today.  You'd have to believe that every doctor, nurse, and paramedic would need to be on call today.  But, that isn't the case.  Not at all, actually.  The truth is, the evidence just doesn't support the superstition.  Google it yourself if you wish.  I did.  There have been several studies done and all of them conclude that there is nothing to frighten us about the 13th day of the month falling on a Friday.  Friday the 13th is just that, and nothing more. Nor is there anything particularly haunting or frightening about full moons, or any other coincidental calendar or constellation combinations.  So, ERs are staffed today the same way they would be on any other day.

The truth is superstitions are really just bogus attempts the devil makes to tempt us into rationalizing ourselves away from God.  

Check out what Saint Paul says to the Ephesians in chapter 4, verses 17-24

St. Paul tells the church in Ephesus that they are living "in the futility of their minds".  What does this mean?
Put simply it means the Christians in Ephesus were yielding their faith in God to rationalizations for not believing in God...like superstitions, for example.

Like the Christians in Ephesus, our world is filled with rationalizations for not putting our trust in God.  It seems our natural tendency is to think our way away from God---leaving us "darkened in our understanding" as Paul puts it, or in other words, leaving us hopelessly confused.  Intellectual pride, rationalizations, and excuses all keep us distant from God.

People often ask me, "Pastor, do you believe in ghosts?"  The answer is NOPE!  If I'm trusting in God then I'm trusting that God has all of us..even the dead...in His hands.  There is only one ghost, and His name is Holy.  :-)   I also don't believe in superstitious things like charms, rabbits feet or anything else that is supposed to conjure up good luck or bad luck.  Why be held hostage by such things?  And lastly, horoscopes.....nope, no truth in those rationalizations either.  One of my pet peeves is Christians who come to me for counsel because of something they read in their horoscope.  Don't believe in the stars.  Instead, put your faith in the One who made them!

A rationalization doesn't have to take the form of a superstition, but if you think about it they generally function the same way.  Think about all the ways we rationalize our behavior.  Take driving the speed limit for example.  The speed limit sign tells us that we would all be safer on the road if we drove no faster than the speed limit.  But, we don't do that, do we?  We rationalize that most police officers don't want to go through the effort of pulling someone over and ruining their day for going a few mph over the speed limit.  So, instead of driving at the safe speed, we drive somewhere around 10 mph over that.  We know its not right.  We know its not as safe.  Yet, we rationalize that since we are unlikely to get in trouble for doing it, that its OK.  Our fear of an accident, or our fear of the penalty of a ticket are reduced and rationalized away with a little self-deception conjured up by the devil whispering in our ear.

That's what rationalization is, self-deception, or as Paul puts it, "the futility of the mind".

Are you living "in the futility of your mind"?
Are you listening as the devil whispers all sorts of rationalizations that pull you away from trusting God, or doing what's right?

If you are, chances are its because you're afraid of something.
Our fears are the weak spots the devil uses to tempt us.  What are yours? 

I'll share with you my own as an example.  
One of my deep fears is rejection.  I want to be liked.  The devil knows this and always whispers in my ear various rationalizations for behavior that might indeed make me more likable in that moment, or among those people, but inevitably its behavior that I'm not going to be proud of and its definitely going to draw me away from God.

The good news is we have a God who is very real, not a rationalization for something else.  He is One who does not hide from us the truth, and One who gives himself plainly to us.  The lies we're told always remind us of our fears and try to enslave us by them.  God does the opposite.  He calms our fears by sending His Son to endure that which we most fear.  
Is it any wonder that the most common expression in the whole Bible is "Do not be afraid."  No other single expression comes up in the Bible more than that.  It's the first the resurrected Jesus speaks on the day of resurrection, "Do not be afraid!"

Our God wants us to know that we do not need to live in fear, or be held hostage by it any longer.
Superstitions, are nothing more than rationalizations that do the devil's bidding by keeping us in fear.

So what if its Friday the 13th...a full moon...or if a black cat has crossed our path...or whatever.
This is the day the Lord has made!  Let us rejoice and be glad in it! (Psalm 118:24)

Prayer:  Lord, I believe in you.  Help me in my unbelief.  Amen! (Mark 9:24)