[299 words]
As the cool autumn breezes bring in a new season, many people will kick off fall by scaring themselves silly. Zombies, vampires, and horror movies will be the focal point for October, saturating American culture from the local discount store to satellite television, and all points in between.
Why some people enjoy being scared of things that do not exist is beyond me. Daniel Kelly, a philosophy professor at Purdue University, once said that Halloween is the time when people can have their “fear and disgust buttons pushed without actually being in danger.”
Isn’t it strange that people seek out and dwell upon evil things to tantalize their emotions with fear of non-existent things like zombies and werewolves, but seem to have no actual fear of things that really exist, such as the coming day of judgment and eternal punishment in hell?
The apostle Paul reveals that Jesus will return “in flaming fire taking vengeance on those who do not know God, and on those who do not obey the gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ” (2 Thess. 1:8). The Lord Jesus says, in fact, that separation from God for all eternity in hell will be so horrifying that, “If your hand causes you to sin, cut it off. It is better for you to enter life lame, rather than having two hands, to go to hell, into the fire that shall never be quenched, where ‘Their worm does not die, and the fire is not quenched’” (Mark 9:43-44).
Halloween is enjoyed by many today for the “safe scares” it supposedly provides. But have you considered the horror of eternal life without Jesus? If you reject Him, you will live in eternal horror, with no relief or safety to be found. Now that’s scary.
Matt Clifton
Judsonia church of Christ
Judsonia, AR