Don't Give Satan An Advil

What is your name?

When you were born did your parents give you a name worthy of who you are, or have you had to make yourself worthy of the name your parents gave you? In his story "Romeo and Juliet", Shakespeare writes, What's in a name? That which we call a rose, by any other name would smell as sweet. So does your name really even matter? Well, it depends on who knows it.

My parents named me John Boyd Gardner. If you just leave it at that then some people may not think it is a very spectacular name... (seeing as how it has been my name for over 36 years I am pretty partial to it though). I am not famous so I do not have a famous name. My name does not jump out at people because it is not an unusual or trendy name. My name is a good, solid name. But even though I am not famous there are hundreds, maybe even thousands, of people who know my name just because we have crossed paths at some point in my life. Some people will hear my name and think fond thoughts, some will think not so fond thoughts, and some people will think "Who? Oh, I kinda remember that guy." Regardless of what people think when they hear my name, I have made some sort of impression on many people.

But I wonder what sort of impression I have made on the devil over the years. In Acts chapter 19 the seven sons of Sceva were trying to cast out demons "In the name of Jesus, whom Paul preaches." They knew that there was something to the name of Jesus, and even threw in Paul's name for good measure, kinda like a name-dropper would do. There was a problem with that though... one particular evil spirit had no idea who these seven guys were. See, all of hell knew Jesus because, well, He's Jesus, and they all knew Paul because he had been one of their top humans until he met Jesus on the road to Damascus and started doing battle against the army of hell. But, when these seven no-name sons of the Jewish chief priest, Sceva, came along, the evil spirit said "Jesus I know, and I know about Paul, but who are you?" Then the man with the evil spirit jumped on the brothers and put a whoopin' on 'em that EVERYONE around would remember for a long time.

So, do evil spirits know MY name? Am I known among the army of hell? Does Satan have to work overtime because I am on the job? I like what Dave Earley says in his book, "The 21 Most Dangerous Questions of the Bible",... I don't claim the amazing authority of the Lord Jesus Christ or the apostle Paul. But I believe I can live a positively dangerous life. I hope to live so completely for God's kingdom that I am known by those in the kingdom of darkness. I want to give hell a headache.

What about you? Does the devil need an Advil? Does hell know your name?