by Tim Hall

Watch out for the black cat that tries to cross your path. Never walk underneath a ladder. When you tip over a salt shaker, be sure to pitch a little over your left shoulder (or is it your right shoulder?). And by no means should you ever, ever attempt anything important on Friday the 13th.

Don't assume that everyone is chuckling along with you over these examples of superstition. According to an article on About.com on the subject, "Paraskevidekatriaphobia" (fear of Friday the 13th) is a condition that afflicts 21 million Americans - about eight percent of the population. According to the same article, a study appeared in 1993 in the British Medical Journal confirming that a greater number of auto accidents occur on Friday the 13th than on Friday the 6th.

What's a Christian to do? Do we play it safe and carefully avoid stepping on the sidewalk's cracks so as to avoid breaking our mother's back?

"Superstition" comes from a root that mean "standing over". It's the idea that certain dark forces hover above us over which we have no control. These forces (according to some) are not to be taken lightly. Laugh at the fear of Friday the 13th at your own peril.

The Bible, however, makes it clear that God is the ultimate Force to be heeded. Allowing our lives to be guided by fears of other "powers" is wrong.

In Jeremiah's day, many in Judah had turned from God to idolatry and other superstitions. He warned: "Thus says the Lord: 'Do not learn the way of the Gentiles; do not be dismayed at the signs of heaven, for the Gentiles are dismayed at them. For the customs of the peoples are futile. . .'" (Jer. 10:2,3, NKJV). How much have we progressed in 21st-century America? Have we learned the futility of observing the positions of planets and stars for the purpose of guiding our decisions? Or do we continue to follow the way of the Gentiles?

Years earlier, Isaiah had put the problem in perspective: "And when they say to you, 'Seek those who are mediums and wizards, who whisper and mutter,' should not a people seek their God? Should they seek the dead on behalf of the living? To the law and to the testimony! If they do not speak according to this word, it is because there is no light in them" (Isa. 8:19,20). The choice, according to Isaiah, is simple: Do we turn to the God of light for guidance, or to pseudo-forces that can give no light at all?

Sure, I avoid walking under ladders. But I do so because of concerns about falling objects, not because I fear some hex that may be placed upon me. As a Christian, I do not bow to irrational fears. I follow the revealed will of God and refuse to be shackled by superstitious ideas handed down through time.

Here's the Good News: "And you shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free" (Jn. 8:32). Now get out and enjoy the day!