As New Orleans prepares to celebrate Mardi Gras next week, people from other states and some from foreign countries will flock to New Orleans to witness what is called the greatest free show on earth.

Many people from Louisiana will escape to Disney World, which some people call a “man trap” created by a mouse.

This past weekend, people paid $5,000 for a ticket to the Super Bowl. I’m amazed how people need to be entertained regardless of the price.

“Mardi Gras Madness,” as some people describe it, is now bigger than ever. (As a point of information, “madness” is defined as a condition of being mad. “Mad” is defined as crazy, insane, foolish and senseless.)

With the celebration comes the attitude that creates the atmosphere of “eat, drink and be merry, for tomorrow we die.” The Bible says that people with this mentality are fools.

Many people make Mardi Gras a family day. On that day, the family will be exposed to drunkenness, drug use without the fear of arrest, people urinating on the streets and people parading half-naked (and some naked).

Good times?

You be the judge.

The real spirit of Mardi Gras is the spirit of revelry and excess. God repeatedly warns us against such behavior, as in Galatians 5: 19-21, “Now the works of the flesh are evident, which are adultery, fornication, uncleanness, licentiousness, idolatry, sorcery, hatred, contentions, jealousies, outbursts of wrath, selfish ambitions, dissensions, heresies, envy, murders, drunkenness, revelries and the like, of which I tell you beforehand, just as I also told you in time past, that those who practice such things will not inherit the kingdom of God.”

Did I ever participate? You bet I did! I rode on a float — got drunk — and got caught up in the wicked spirit that prevails that day.

I thank God that I’ve been delivered. The blinders have been removed.

Am I writing this article as a self-righteous, condemning Christian? The answer is “no.”

The main question is: “Is God, our Heavenly Father, honored and pleased with such activity?”

If you have any questions, or comments, please write Harold Keller at Get High on Life, P.O. Drawer U, Reserve, LA 70084 or call 985-652-8477.