Today is St. Patrick's Day...
I'm sure your mind is immediately filled with thoughts of green beer, little leprechauns, shiny green shamrock necklaces, and of course, big green top hats. All over the world today, people are planning parties, stocking up on alcohol, and cancelling all their plans for tomorrow to recover for the intense hangovers as a result of celebrating St. Patrick's Day... a day that was created to honor Maewyn "Patrick" Succat, a devoted Christian man who was called by God to Ireland. At that time, Ireland was heavily gripped by paganism and idolatry. Patrick brought the good news of the Gospel into this area and taught the people about Jesus for the first time, and many of the people accepted Christ and turned away from their old ways. Patrick died on March 17th, which we celebrate today as St. Patrick's Day.
Is it just me, or is something here not adding up?
What exactly are we celebrating here? Well, it's called St. Patrick's Day, so obviously we are honoring St. Patrick and celebrating all that he accomplished in his life... right? Think again. St. Patrick was a warrior for God's Kingdom, and sadly today we find ourselves embracing and celebrating the very things that he fought against.
While it's sad, this isn't new to us as a culture. The world (with obvious influence from the enemy) has twisted almost every holiday we celebrate, completely blinding us from the righteous intent of our holidays. Think about it for a second... what holidays come to mind when I mention:
- Fear?
- Gluttony?
- Materialism?
- Greed?
- Sexual Immorality?
- Drunkenness?
Do you see the ways that each of these things have been worked into our minds and our traditions as we celebrate certain holidays?
As I reflected on all of this today, I realized that holidays are one of the many weapons that the enemy uses to ensnare us with sin and idolatry. It's as if we have bought into this idea that holidays are an excuse or a free pass to act on our sinful desires. Too many times I have bought into this lie in the past, and it's only by God's grace that I'm able to recognize this and speak this truth today.
My encouragement and my prayer for us, brothers and sisters, is not at all to stop celebrating holidays or discontinuing family traditions altogether, but that we would honor God in our celebration and not sacrifice our integrity for the acceptance of our culture.
Heavenly Father, help us to be mindful of what we choose to celebrate and how we choose to celebrate. On days like today, I pray that You would give us strength to continue pursuing righteousness and truth, and that we wouldn't allow ourselves to be influenced by the enemy or the pressures of the world. We are committed to following and worshiping You and only You, Lord. If we have created idols, or elevated anything above You, I pray that You would help us to gain a proper perspective and place You high above all else where You belong. Thank You for Your love and Your grace. In Jesus' name, Amen.
