Like a fluttering sparrow or a darting swallow, an undeserved curse does not come to rest. – Proverbs 26:2

Today’s Scripture Reading (October 15, 2019): Proverbs 26                          

According to the advertisement, you can get one for about $400 to $600. As with many things, it requires a 25% down payment. But for that investment, you can make a woman infertile, or maybe send a neighbor terrifying nightmares, or even cause that wealthy shop owner, that one who was disrespectful to you, financial problems. Are you in love with someone who is in a relationship with someone else? Not a problem! There is a spell that will cause relationships to end and people to separate. You can even send someone bladder or kidney problems. As long as you are willing to pay the price. Of course, if you pay the down payment but refuse to pay the balance, then the spell can be removed, and new curse can be placed on you. It is a more spiritual form of debt collection. Oh yeah, the curse also comes with a guarantee. There is no way that the spell can be reversed and land on you (as long as the bill gets paid). It is entirely safe, and every spell comes with a lifetime guarantee. All for a $400 to $600 one-time payment.

Have you ever felt like you are cursed? You know, the day that you leave just a little late for work is the day that there is a traffic accident that ties up an intersection and forces you into an unplanned detour. Or maybe a series of unfortunate events that just does not seem to want to stop. Have you ever wondered if there might be a way to stop the curse?

Just as a personal disclaimer, I am a bit of a skeptic when it comes to blessings and curses. When that accident happens on the one day that I am running late, I don’t think that someone placed a curse on me. In the same way, when I find that rare parking spot downtown with an hour still left on the meter, I am not quick to praise God for the unexpected blessing or miracle. Both of these are part of living in a city, even if they are rare events. Sometimes rare events happen. As I write this, I am battling an undefined pain in my knee, but I am pretty sure that someone who doesn’t like me has not placed a curse on my knee. I know that, in some deep dark basement, there is not a woman with a crooked nose and long grey hair sticking a pin into a “Garry shaped doll.” 

But you don’t have to take the word of a skeptic like me. Even Solomon makes this promise. If you don’t deserve the curse, then it can’t land on you. It doesn’t matter the expertise of the one sending the curse, or how much someone paid for the spell, no curse will come to rest on those who do not deserve it. That doesn’t mean that you won’t experience some bad luck. But, if you are a child of God and try to live according to what is right, even if at times you fail at that, then the powers of the dark arts cannot affect you. This is a promise.  

Tomorrow’s Scripture Reading: Proverbs 27