good clean fun?
"Then on Herod's birthday Herodias' daughter performed a dance before the court which delighted Herod so much that he swore..." —Matthew 14:6-7
If you had asked Herod whether his birthday party was for God or for Satan, he would likely have answered that it wasn't fanatically religious or demonically possessed. He would maintain that the party was not that evil and not that pious, just "good clean fun," morally neutral.
Most people think much of what they do is morally neutral because they mistakenly think they can be neutral. However, there is no such thing as neutrality. The devil is real, powerful, and unscrupulous, and if you don't choose to join Jesus' army, Satan could draft you into his army against your will. We can't stop him because he is so much more powerful than we.
The only way to escape Satan's slavery and hell is to turn to Jesus for salvation, deliverance, and protection. If we continue to believe the myth of neutrality, we will repeatedly be surprised when our "good clean fun" results in violence, sin, and death. We will wonder why so few Herodiases, Hitlers, and Stalins have so much freedom to destroy and pervert the world. Neutrality is a euphemism for complicity with the devil. If we're not with Jesus, we're against Him (Lk 11:23).
Prayer: Jesus, by Your power may I attack the gates of hell.
Promise: "The fiftieth year you shall make sacred by proclaiming liberty in the land for all its inhabitants. It shall be a jubilee for you, when every one of you shall return to his own property." —Lv 25:10
Praise: Destined for a career in the military, St. Alphonsus turned away, incurred his father's wrath, and entered the Jesuits to serve in the Lord's army.
Reference: (For a related teaching, order our tape, Apathy, on audio AV 61-3 or video V-61.)
Rescript: †Reverend Joseph R. Binzer, Vicar General of the Archdiocese of Cincinnati, February 11, 2009
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