Good Luck?

Today is St. Patrick’s Day, a holiday celebrated by Irish and non-Irish alike. It originally began as a Christian holiday but became more secularized like Valentine's Day, Christmas and Easter. One symbol often associated with St. Patrick’s Day is the shamrock. Saint Patrick was a missionary who reportedly used the three-leaved clover to explain the Holy Trinity to the pre-Christian Irish people.

In recent years, someone finding a four-leaved clover represents good luck. Wikipedia defines luck as “a belief in good or bad fortune in life caused by accident or chance.” Many people believe good luck charms such as a rabbit’s foot or horseshoe will attract positive things in their lives.

Then there are things associated with “bad luck” like black cats and Friday the 13th. My birthday is on the 13th day of January. One of my most memorable birthdays that landed on a Friday was my 14th in 1978. While nothing really terrible happened to me, one of my aunts was injured in a car accident that day. Ironically, she was driving on Highway 13 in a thirteen-year-old car.

Christians don’t need “luck” to succeed in life. For one thing, good luck charms are really idols. 1 Samuel 15:23 in the Amplified Bible says, “For rebellion is as the sin of witchcraft, and stubbornness is as idolatry and teraphim (household good luck images)…” Circumstances in your life can be changed for the better if you obey God’s word and believe in His promises. So the next time somebody tells you “good luck”, you can reply, “I don’t need luck…I am blessed.”

“For I know the thoughts that I think toward you, says the LORD, thoughts of peace and not of evil, to give you a future and a hope.” - Jeremiah 29:11