Welcome to 10-minute Bible Talks, where we connect the Bible to your life.

In the time it takes to get to work.

I'm Jeff Parrott.

Today and today only, millions of people will get away with activities that could get the

average adult arrested under different circumstances.

Children and maybe some overzealous adolescents will conceal their true identities

and conjole their neighbors into parting with sweet treats late into the evening.

Halloween has become a culturally sanctioned day where concealment and

pretending aren't just allowed, they're rewarded. The masquerade is a manifest game of make-believe.

Of course, it's one thing to pretend like you're someone else to get something from others one night of the

year. We can call that fun. But it's entirely different thing when you pretend like you're someone

else to get something from others every day of your life. We call that deceptive, dishonest, and devious. That kind of masquerade is make-believe,

rooted, and manipulation. It'd be tempting to imagine that the manipulative masquerade is something

that we're distanced from, giving us the freedom to judge other people for partaking in it.

But if we're honest, most of us have to confront an uncomfortable truth.

If life is like a masquerade ball, many of us are in the middle of the party, taking it all in

behind the cover of some kind of mask. Maybe it's the mask of the party, taking it all in behind the cover of some kind of mask.

Maybe it's the mask of being the funniest, liveliest person in the room, while under the

mask, you're lonely and sad. Maybe it's the mask of having the most assured and confident personality,

but under that mask, you feel insufficient and afraid. Or perhaps it's the mask of varsity, religious participation. It looks like you have it

all together, but underneath that mask, you're struggling with secret sin and running from shame.

Not unlike Halloween night, many of us wear these masks because we're trying to get something from others.

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