Rejoice, It's October 31st!

Is one day good and another day evil? Not according to Scripture that states, "This is the day which the Lord hath made; we will rejoice and be glad in it" (Psalm 118:24, King James Version). October 31st is not an evil day but instead belongs to God as the maker of it. Christians should rejoice in this day just as any other day. Churches not sure how to deal with the madness of candy, costumes, and children begging to participate in what "everyone else is doing" resort to alternative activities to keep children from the streets and in a safe place to celebrate in some way what "everyone else is doing." As a child, I was allowed to dress up, go door to door to get candy, attend parties and church events and it was fun. Little did I know something much more glorious occurred on this day until a few years back as I was researching on my own. I have come to find out that many other Christians are uninformed as well. Those who knew had a well-kept secret.

Halloween, October 31st is the evening before All Hallows Day (or All Saint’s Day) celebrated on November 1. This day, as we know, is about darkness, spirits, and dead things. This is enough for me to steer clear of participating in any fashion. Genesis 1:4, "And God saw the light, that it was good: and God divided the light from the darkness" (KJV). The Lord made a clear distinction in the creation of darkness and light. Light, He stated, was good! The Genesis account of creation also explains that God created the greater and lesser light and that the lesser light rules the night. The light will always rule the darkness. October 31st is no different: light still rules the darkness. "Rule," according to Webster's 1828, means, "supreme command or authority, an instrument by which lines are drawn." And this proved true on a day of "darkness" in 1517.

Leading up to October 31st, was a period of the "dark ages." The Word of God had been kept from the common man, chained to pulpits, twisted and perverted for the gain of the papacy. It is not that out of the blue, one day, everything changed. But instead, God had been preparing the whole world for a daybreak called the Protestant Reformation. Leading up to October 31, 1517, God raised men up to translate the Bible into the languages of the ordinary people. He sped up the copies of the Bible formerly handwritten by scribes by empowering Johannes Gutenberg to invent the printing press. He was setting the stage for an important event on this date. He raised up a man named Martin Luther who was being trained as a monk but writhing with guilt over his own sin. The light came on in his heart that there was nothing he could "do" to be good enough to be saved. Instead, he found salvation is received through grace alone. The "church" at this time was selling indulgences for people to be forgiven of sin, including future sins. Luther found this to be entirely against Scripture.

So, it was October 31, 1517, that Luther nailed 95 theses (or points) found as false in Scripture on the front door of the church in Wittenburg, Germany. It was common for people to nail announcements here like we pin up on bulletin boards. These points produced a buzz that spread quickly within days and stirred up discussions and eventually protests against the "church." Darkness had falsely reigned, but a day celebrated as darkness was broken through with the light called the Protestant Reformation. Today, we have Bibles available everywhere that has the power to set us free from darkness and death. October 31st is a day to rejoice, it is not one of darkness and death but liberty and light! A rich history is behind and after this historical day. I encourage you to research this history yourself and see once again that the LIGHT rules the night! Of course, you will find flawed men that God used but this does not negate the obedience and courage they had for God. Ephesians 5:8, "For ye were sometimes darkness, but now are ye light in the Lord: walk as children of light:" (KJV).