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April 18, 2011
What’s Your Sign?
By Ryan Duncan, Editor for TheFish.com
But the Lord is faithful, and he will strengthen and protect you from the evil one. – 2 Thessalonians 3:3
I recently stumbled across an interesting Facebook thread. One of my friends had met a young man who claimed to be a Christian, but also believed in the zodiac. My friend had created the thread asking other Christians for their opinions on this, and as you probably guessed, most of them wrote back that it was all garbage. Some of them even called horoscopes “demonic” and quoted Deuteronomy 18 for emphasis.
Let no one be found among you who sacrifices his son or daughter in the fire, who practices divination or sorcery, interprets omens, engages in witchcraft, or casts spells, or who is a medium or spiritist or who consults the dead. Anyone who does these things is detestable to the LORD, and because of these detestable practices the LORD your God will drive out those nations before you. - Deuteronomy 18:10-12
Surprisingly, a number of people also rose to the zodiacs’ defense. A few argued that they fit their sign description to a “T,” or that the little predictions sometimes came true. One person even stated that God had declared that the heavens were for “signs and seasons” in Genesis 1:14 and that Matthew 2 records the Magi using astrology to discover the birth of Jesus.
The whole thing made me curious. So I got on the internet, found my astrological sign, and started browsing the supposed character qualities. Honestly, it was pretty accurate. It even listed traits about myself I really didn’t like. Maybe there was something to all this zodiac stuff, but then, why all the fuss about it in Christian circles? I mean, reading your horoscope wasn’t exactly summoning the devil. The question stuck in my mind for a few days until I overheard my parents telling an old story of theirs.
It goes like this. A young woman had recently come to Christ. One day, the church she attended hosted a breakfast for its new members, and by some random act of chance, she ended up sitting next to the senior pastor. Wanting to make conversation, she turned to the pastor and asked, “So, what’s your sign?” The pastor turned to her with narrowed eyes and replied, “Why, the Cross of Jesus Christ.”
A little rude? Perhaps, but I think his response hits the nail on the head. The problem with horoscopes, aside from the whole sorcery deal, is that they’re a petty form of idolatry. When we look at stars for answers, we are essentially telling God that he’s not good enough. It shows we would rather depend on constellations instead of putting our trust in the all-powerful God who loves us.
So, does the zodiac have any special powers? The answer: it doesn’t matter. We don’t need to look at the stars. We have Christ, and there is no better sign to live under.
Intersecting Faith and Life
Are you putting something else in front of God? Try to rely more on your Heavenly Father.
Further Reading
2 Timothy 2:13
