Now that’s a strange question you may think. What does it matter if the devil knows your name? Why would you want the devil to know your name? Why even think about what the devil knows or doesn’t know?

I stopped and asked myself this question while reading about what happened to some Jewish exorcists in Acts 19. There were seven sons of Sceva, a Jewish chief priest, who had heard how God was working through Paul. They tried to use the name of Jesus as Paul was doing to drive out an evil spirit and had an interesting conversation with a demon. In verse 15 it says: One day, the evil spirit answered them, Jesus I know, and I know about Paul, but who are you? The evil spirit beat up all seven and they ran away naked and bleeding. Can you understand the importance of this question now?

Is your life with Christ known by demons? They knew about Paul, but they didn’t know these sons of a Jewish priest at all. You would think that evil spirits would be aware of the names of exorcists from all religions. I’m not sure if they had any real success as exorcists in the past; maybe this was the first time they were up against a real demon. The point of this story for me is that I hope the demons do know my name. I hope they know that I am walking with God and that they would want to avoid walking in my path. I hope they dread thinking of all the trouble I am causing for their side because of the way I teach others about Jesus. I hope they know my name and the work that God is able to accomplish through me.

I know we don’t like to think of evil spirits and their work on this earth. Ephesians 6:12 reminds us: For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms. C.S. Lewis wrote a parable about this struggle in his book The Screwtape Letters. I also enjoyed Frank Pereti’s modern tales in This Present Darkness and Piercing the Darkness. Though they are fiction, they portray in the author’s imagination the reality that we are not alone. There are others, unseen forces at work in this world. As I read from Acts today, I was reminded of what is going on and it made me stop and consider my life. This evil spirit knew Jesus, of course; he knew Paul for sure; but his question to the seven brothers was, who are you? I don’t want to live my life with Christ in such a way that the demons don’t know my name.

Donna Partow spoke at our women’s retreat this year and she challenged each of us to be the kind of woman of whom, we wake up each morning and our feet hit the ground, the demons say, "Oh no, she’s awake!" Does your spiritual life challenge the demons? What do they know about you from the way you live in Christ?