Superstitions

At one time, December 28 was known as Innocents’ Day or Childermas, commemorating the day that Herod killed all the baby boys under two years old.

Herod was furious when he realized that the wise men had outwitted him. He sent soldiers to kill all the boys in and around Bethlehem who were two years old and under, based on the wise men’s report of the star’s first appearance. (Matthew 2:16, NLT)

People so believed this day to be unlucky, that Edward IV of England apparently changed his coronation which was originally slated for December 28.

Families used to celebrate by whipping their younger children. (Is this were parents got the saying; this will hurt me more than it will you?)  Thankfully this has changed and some countries now let children play tricks on their elders instead.

Superstitions are irrational, but usually deep-seated belief in the magical effects of a specific action or ritual. They get us thinking that good or bad luck will result from performing that deed. However, God is not the God of the magical, or of the superstitious.

“Now use your magical charms! Use the spells you have worked at all these years! Maybe they will do you some good. Maybe they can make someone afraid of you. All the advice you receive has made you tired. Where are all your astrologers, those stargazers who make predictions each month?  Let them stand up and save you from what the future holds. But they are like straw burning in a fire; they cannot save themselves from the flame. You will get no help from them at all. (Isaiah 47:12-14a, NLT)

Prayer – God, show us clearly where we have fallen into superstitious thinking and help us to change. For Christ who died for the truth of the Gospel. Amen