This week as another Halloween comes and goes, the Christian community will again generate a lot of heat and little light arguing about how they should approach the day.  In a poll today on Streaming Faith, 52% of respondents said Halloween was a “tool of the devil,” 30% said it was “potentially dangerous spiritually,” while only 12% said it was “harmless fun for children.”

For what it’s worth, I think it’s somewhat a moot point.  Let me tell you why.

When I was a boy, the movie “The Exorcist” first came out.  I was a very young believer and was naturally curious about the devil and demonic activity. Plus, all my friends were going to see it. So despite the fact I was too young to be admitted into the theatre (the film was rated R), I went to see it.  Bad idea.  Although by today’s standards the movie’s special effects are primitive and almost laughable, that movie scared me silly.  I didn’t sleep with the lights off for weeks!

The truly sad part was that for a period of time after seeing the movie, I gave the devil way too much credit.  I worried that he was just waiting for some sin in my life, some rebellion against God, any crack in the dam of my faith and he would charge in and exploit that — maybe even possess me just like he did little Regan in the film.  The devil’s mission is to steal, kill and destroy, and I let him steal from me my peace, kill my joy, and destroy my effectiveness for Christ for a time. 

I’m afraid that many of us do the same thing — we give the devil too much credit.  And we’re old enough to know better!  When Jesus Christ is Lord of your life, the devil’s power over you is limited. His schemes are only as effective as you allow them to be.

A gifted Bible teacher once told me he could sum up the book of Revelation in two words: God wins.  I like that, because I know that because He lives, I will live; because He reigns, I, too will reign; because He wins, I win.

That’s the bottom line: God wins!  Through Him I can be more than a conqueror.  In His strength, I can resist the devil and he will flee from me.  And I can rest in the assurance that greater is He that is in me, than he that is in the world.