New Light on a Horrific Concern

I remember when one of my former co-workers asked me if I am offended when people talk about horoscopes. Now I suppose she asked me that question because I’d been finally displaying my faith in God alone outwardly. Not to boast on anything that I could have achieved on my own, but I was a little proud that someone thought enough to consider my stance on the subject. Yet, possibly to her surprise, my response was uncharacteristically simple.

No, it does not offend me.

Yep, that’s it. It was not that I was intentionally attempting to abandon my post as a Christian to use this inquiry as a point of evangelism or even that I thought it odd that she asked me the question. In fact, because she questioned me, immediately I wondered had she, also a professed Christian, been questioning her own motives for bringing up the topic in the first place.
I think I knew right away that had indeed been her motive, but in the back on my mind, front of my heart, and on the tip of my tongue was this lingering desire to utter, “I just know better now.” Yet, I refrained and kept my response more simple than the incessant urge to follow the Holy Spirit at the time. Yes, this definitely would have been an awesome opportunity to shed light on the truth of God’s word and how believing in such is really practicing witch craft coupled with idolatry, however, what I should have possibly been thinking instead of “I just know better” would have been more aptly phrased had “sort of” been sandwiched smack dab in the middle of the “know” and “better” while completely omitting the “now” altogether. Consequently, the truth was that God had indeed revealed to me in His word the very thing I should have been able to share, but I still didn’t know enough to adequately explain myself to her at that time so instead, I opted to keep it simple, stupid!
Yes, indeed my response was a prime example of stupidity though one might argue that it was merely ignorance. On a better day, perhaps I could have even attempted to defend my own retort with such. I mean after all to be ignorant of something just has an innocent ring to it, wouldn’t you think?
And yes, stupidity sounds so harsh…I digress. By definition, stupid is lacking normal intelligence or understanding.

So how does one become less stupid about a thing? Well, studying helps, of course. Rather as Paul admonished Timothy in his 2nd letter to his son of the Gospel.
To do your best to present yourself to God as one approved, a workman who does not need to be ashamed and who correctly handles the word of truth.(2 Timothy 2:15-NIV).

There’s just nothing worse than mishandling the words in the bible! I mean, as a child, I used to hear inside and outside the church, how “money is the root of all evil.” Yet, nowhere in the bible does it say that! Actually in 1 Timothy 6:10, Paul writes that the “love of money is the root of all kinds of evil.” This simple misunderstanding has literally caused of divide among Christians. Jesus confirms that we must seek God’s heart before we seek His hand and all “these things” will be given to us in Mathew 6:33, but because of the misconception bred in ignorance that humility equals poverty, many of our brothers and sisters in the faith are missing out on their own promise.
Do you see how important it is to meditate on the word for wisdom? The bible says in James 1:5,

if any of you lacks wisdom, he should ask God…” If you believe and not doubt, God will generously supply you with more than enough. He will generously give it to you.

In my situation at the time, I had not taken the opportunity to ask or even seek further wisdom on the subject, so naturally when the question about my horoscope stance arose, I hadn’t been confident in a proper response. Now, I had got the confidence to refer certain passages in the bible to support my claim like in Revelations 21. Yet, though I’d read that witchcraft displeased God, beyond that I hadn’t dug deeper for a clearer understanding. Actually, I couldn’t even recall where in the Old Testament I read it!
So now do you see why what I’d done was stupid over ignorance? Stupidity implies a choice. I had the opportunity to meditate on the issue and receive further perspective so that I could rightly divide God’s word, but I hadn’t known as much as this co-worker thought I should so I took the easy way out.
In retrospect, I know that perhaps in some way she wanted my approval, as if it mattered, to see if her discussion with others about the horoscopes was “ok.” In my summation, who was I to judge? However, as the word of God reveals, we are to judge only by the same means that we intend to be judged ourselves.
Basically, if you hadn’t gotten that area of your house in order, you really have no room to judge another by the state of their home. I’d been given access to the truth, but wasn’t confident in my claim. It’s taken me years to admit that to myself. I knew what not to do, but did not know why. I think that’s where a lot of Christians err in their witness.
For instance, we say it’s wrong to have premarital sex because “it’s in the bible.” Yet, we fail to explain the consequences of fornication. In essence, we fail to properly confirm our claim because we lack preparation.
With regard to Horoscopes, I admit, I used to rely heavily on them because they seemed so on point with how my life had been going at the time.
Angh! Wrong Answer! Survey Says>>
The thing that we as Christians have to realize is that “for entertainment purposes only” does not negate the damage that’s inherently done by relying on such. It all starts in one’s mind. Before long, you begin to anticipate what the columnist wrote as opposed to what God wrote concerning your life. You unconsciously accept their opinion over God’s opinion.
And for the record, when you put your trust in anything other than God, it’s idolatry. So though it’s taken me about three years to properly answer the question, I can gladly say that no, horoscopes do not offend me, they offend God! Enough Said.
©2013Nadia Davis. All Rights Reserved.