WWJD By Dr. Richard Youngblood
Question:
Since today is Friday the 13th, what do you think Jesus would say
about some of the superstitions that exist even in today’s scientific world?
While most of us do not take these superstitious ideas very seriously, we continue to hear about people who live in fear of superstition. For example, some people carry a lucky rabbit's foot, and many buildings leave out a thirteenth floor. (The elevator goes from the twelfth to the fourteenth floor.) Also, many folk sayings are based on superstition: throwing salt over your shoulder, avoiding walking under a ladder and sucking a lemon with a pinch of soda if a black cat crosses your path. Then there are the athletes who refuse to wash their socks as long as the team is on a winning streak. Hopefully, most intelligent people understand that these old sayings are harmless; but many others live in fear of superstitions or place great faith in presumed advantages gained through superstitious luck.
Actually, the word superstition is found twice in the King James Version of the Bible as a translation of a word that literally means “fearing demons.” Speaking to the philosophers of ancient Athens, the apostle Paul said, “I perceive that in all things you are too superstitious” (Acts 17:22 KJV). After referring to an inscription, “TO THE UNKNOWN GOD” that he found in Athens, Paul talked with them about the God who made the whole world and who is Lord of heaven and earth. Those ancient pagans believed that many gods dwell in the rocks, trees and other things around us and lived in constant fear of offending these gods and being destroyed by them. Today, many superstitions are based on these ideas. However, Paul made it clear that God is not in nature nor in any created thing. Instead, He is creator of all things. As creator, the Lord God is separate from what he created and remains above it.
In reality, the only power in superstition is found in the fear it evokes. Instead of placing confidence in superstitious fate, luck or anything related to them, we need to trust in God and him alone. This is his world. God is the sovereign ruler over all things in heaven and on earth. The apostle Paul said: “For you did not receive a spirit that makes you a slave again to fear, but you received the Spirit of sonship” (Romans 8:15). To Timothy, he wrote: “For God did not give us a spirit of timidity, but a spirit of power, of love and of self-discipline” (2 Timothy 1:7).
God desires that we love and obey him. Thus, John wrote: “There is no fear in love. But perfect love drives out fear, because fear has to do with punishment. The one who fears is not made perfect in love” (1 John 4:18). The writer of Hebrews encourages us saying, “God has said, ‘Never will I leave you, never will I forsake you.’” (Hebrews 13:5-6). With God on our side, neither man nor demons can harm us.
We have a
choice. We can live in superstitious
fear, or we can live with courageous faith in God the Heavenly Father who rules
the universe. I pray you will choose the
latter and forget the superstitions of the world. (With a few changes, this article is a repeat
of one published earlier. It was chosen
as appropriate for this date.)
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