Today I want to talk about seasons. For years I have found joy in the liturgical year. The Advent to Ascension season about the Lord and the Pentecost season about walking in the Spirit always made internal sense to me. The yearly cycle of winter through spring to summer and back through fall is also deeply meaningful to me personally. When I was a heathen, the cycle of the Zodiac was comforting. But the question in all of this is: what part of this is of God?

God’s seasons really matter

As I have grown in the Lord I have increasingly seen the importance of the Jewish feasts in the eyes of God. He seems to time all of His important actions prophetically by these feasts. We must understand Passover, First Fruits, and Pentecost because Jesus fulfilled them literally and exactly. My expectation is that Rosh Hashanah, Yom Kippur, and Tabernacles will be fulfilled just as literally when He comes back to rule as King in Jerusalem.

Galatians 4:10–11

You still observe special days, months, seasons, and years! I am afraid for you, that I may have wasted my time.

There are spiritual days and celebrations that believers should not be involved in. The larger question is how much authority do you give them in your life? If you run your life by astrology, you are probably serving the creation rather than the creator. God never said that astrology does not work. He said that we couldn’t handle the knowledge of good and evil—because we cannot see the spiritual realities behind all of that. He tells us over and over, we need to get our guidance from Him through the Holy Spirit. We are forbidden to guide our lives by our personal interpretation of what we see going on around us in the creation.

What about Mardi Gras?

Here we have a clear example of a special day which has gone wild in the world. The original fling before Lent was a flawed concept in the first place. But, it has gone far behind that into a celebration of sin.

Paul’s world was full of these special days with all the Roman and Greek gods (among others). We would like to believe that we are beyond all of these superstitions, but the spiritual forces behind many of these events still exist though the world might ridicule you for this belief.

For us today, for example, there is a real question about how we handle Halloween. This is clearly a Wiccan (a Neopagan religion and a form of modern witchcraft) holiday with many evil overtones. There is a lot of enemy activity on this day that we need to be aware of and pray against—asking for protection for those we are responsible for.

However, the children do not have a clue about this day and legalistic bans may just make the day more attractive to them. You need to teach the truth to your children and those you mentor. You need to pray for wisdom in these matters and follow the leading of the Holy Spirit for you and yours.

Seasons can be important learning tools in your life and the lives of those of whom you are responsible. Symbols can be an immense help in daily living. But look to God’s seasons to see how they should be handled. Remember that the word holiday is a contraction of holy day. Make the season holy by focusing on what God has for you in this season of your life. He is the reason for the season—all of them.