Behavior and Customs of this World

I woke up this morning with my mind racing with images as though it was a computer searching for a specific photo. Next it was like it found what it was looking for; a scripture from Romans 12:2, which I will share in a moment, then last my mind settled on the Halloween season.
I decided to get up and jot down my thoughts, but then I realized it was something I needed to share with you. I came to my computer desk which has my dad's Bible on it and opened to Romans 12:2 in The Living Bible (TLBPV).  My immediate thought was "wow!"
It reads; "Don't copy the behavior and customs of this world, but be a new and different person with a fresh newness in all you do and think.  Then you will learn from your own experience how his ways will really satisfy you."
I think about the story of Moses, when he went up to the mountain to meet God and while there, Aaron was coerced by the people to make a golden calf and they worshiped it instead of the living God who had been with them. I picture them with their faces painted, dressed in costumes and partying.
They were worshiping something that is not real, not substantial, and not praise worthy. It definitely was not God's will for them to be worshiping this idol and it was not satisfying because Aaron knew it was wrong.
Why do you participate in Halloween? Do you recognize it for a time of celebrating the fall season's arrival? Do you participate in Halloween because it's what's you've always done?
Let us take it a step further. Is dressing up in costumes wrong? No, I don't believe it is. Is asking for candy that is being given as a gift wrong? No, I don't believe that is either.
But, if you or someone you know is dressing up as a vampire who slurps blood, a mummy that has been dead for years, or a killer with a white shirt covered in blood with a bloody knife in hand, this should raise a flag of concern. It is then I must ask "what are you doing this for and why?"  You say you are a follower of Christ and He lives inside you."  If that is the truth, then you will be as the scriptures say "a new and different person with a fresh newness in all you do and think."
You cannot serve two masters. You will love one and hate the other. Do you hate Jesus? Why would you celebrate something that glorifies Satan's kingdom? Think on the things that are true, right, noble and praiseworthy.
To change the way you celebrate bringing in the new season would be to dress as a biblical character, be funny and witty with your costume. Make your costume a conversation starter for those who don't know Christ. Show the light that lives inside you by what you wear on the outside.

One year I dressed up as a cat at my job. I thought I was cute and far from being sexy or enticing. However, there were a couple of ladies that were offended by my attire. They said it was alluring to their husbands and asked the management to tell me to put some clothes on.  The ladies were right in what they did even if I did get upset and was smart alecky about it.   I walked around professing I was a Christian, but I didn't act like it and my attire didn't match my words. It was then that I realized I WAS in the wrong.

We are not to copy the behavior and customs of this world, we are to be a new and different person with all that we do and think. I hope you will ask yourself;  "why do I do what I do, am I pleasing God, and does it satisfy me?"

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Be encouraged to be the only Bible that someone may read and courageous enough to let them