Witchcraft. I am an old lady and was always taught as a child that witchcraft was evil. If you practiced witchcraft, when you died, they just opened a slot and slid you straight off to hell with no ifs, ands, or buts. Witchcraft was evil and to be avoided at all costs. Now take that raising, and just imagine my offense when I read that Wickford, Rhode Island is having a witch festival. Witches of Wickford celebrates and honors those who practice witchcraft. More than 140 witches dance down the street of Wickford, RI. You too can have the chance to practice a witch dance and celebrate with other witches marching down the street celebrating witchcraft. When I read this announcement, I just cringed inside. The blatant “in your face” rebellion against what God hates. It is now seen as something to be celebrated and enjoyed. I feel a strangling sensation in my throat just thinking about how society today has made sin look good and inviting. Sin is now in your face.
I was reading this week the verses about judging others. “Why do you look at the speck of sawdust in your brother’s eye and pay no attention to the plank in your own eye?” Matthew 7:3. Why judge others when you are guilty of the same or worse things that you are judging them of? My conversation was, Lord I do not practice witchcraft. No, He says – rebellion is the same as the sin of witchcraft. Oh. Talk about a humbling experience. I have been practicing the same sin as witchcraft. There have been times when I have practiced rebellion, a sin that God hates, by not doing what the Lord expects. I have been practicing witchcraft. Times where I would rather sew than read my lesson for the week. Rebellion in not speaking to someone about how good God is to me. Rebellion in not giving enough of my time, energy, and money to others. I have been rebellious and have been practicing the same sin as that of witchcraft.
There is no justification for my sin. If ever there was a more humbling verse- 1 Samuel 15:23 says (KJV), “For rebellion is as the sin of witchcraft and stubbornness is as iniquity and idolatry.” I have been practicing the same sin as witchcraft. I cannot judge others when I am guilty of the same sin that I condemn them for. I would never go to a witch’s festival, yet have I been celebrating my sin of rebellion. When I meditate on these verses, how can there be any pride and haughtiness in my life? As the Psalmist David says in Psalms 119:25, “I am laid low in the dust preserve my life according to your word.” I am so thankful we are not left there in the dust. But there is hope in Proverbs 28:13, “Whosever conceals their sin does not prosper but the one who confesses and renounces the finds mercy.”
I know for myself, I want to examine my life and see if there is any witchcraft or rebellion in it, and earnestly seek the Lord’s forgiveness for my sin rather than focus on someone else’s sin. I have too much of my own sin to condemn someone else. I challenge anyone reading this to get rid of the witchcraft in your life- the witchcraft of rebellion and neglect of those things we know in our hearts we should be doing. Stop practicing witchcraft.
