Matthew and Emily ran through the store to the costume display.

"I want to be a princess!" cried Emily, reaching for a frilly pink dress with a crown.

But Matthew couldn't decide. "I want to be a cowboy! Or maybe a space warrior... or a racecar driver!" Just then, he saw some creepy monster masks and skeleton shirts. Yuck!

Later, as they walked out to the car with their new costumes, Matthew asked, "Mommy, why do some people wear scary costumes on Halloween?"

"Yeah," said Emily, "And how come they put up all those scary decorations?"

"Well," said Mommy, "it's an old Halloween tradition. Hundreds of years ago, many people believed that Halloween was a wicked day--a day when ghosts and evil spirits could hurt them. So they dressed up in costumes to disguise themselves--to hide their true identity from the evil spirits--and even to scare them away."

As they turned onto their street, Matthew saw Mr. Johnson putting plastic spiderwebs and pumpkins on his porch. "Was it true?" Matthew asked. "Did ghosts really chase after people back then? And did the costumes scare them away?"

"No, of course not," Mommy answered. "There are no such things as ghosts. There are some scary things in the world--some of them are very real and some of them are just in our imaginations. But we don't have to be afraid, no matter what. We have something much better than a scary costume--actually, it's Someone!"

"Who's that?" asked Emily.

"It's Jesus," Mommy replied. "The Bible tells us that 'God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son [Jesus], that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life' (John 3:16). Jesus died on a cross to take the punishment for our sins--all the bad things we say and do. But after three days in the grave Jesus came back to life...and later returned to heaven."

"The Bible says that those who believe in Jesus become 'children of God, ' and that God 'will never leave...or forsake' them (John 1:12, Hebrews 13:5)."

"I believe Jesus died for me," said Matthew, "and I want God to forgive my sins and help me not be afraid anymore of things that scare me!"

How about you? Would you like God to forgive you and make you part of his family?

If you believe that God will forgive your sins because Jesus died for you, you can tell Him in a prayer like this, "Dear God, I'm sorry for the bad things I've done. I believe that Jesus died to take the punishment my sins deserve. I want to become a member of your family and live with you in heaven someday. Please help me not to be afraid, but to remember that you are always with your children. Thank you!"