(This is a reprint from 2012. I thought new readers might enjoy reading it, and you who have been readers for a while might enjoy reading it again.)
“Be sober, be vigilant; because your adversary the devil, as a roaring lion, walks about, seeking whom he may devour: 9. Whom resist steadfast in the faith, knowing that the same afflictions are accomplished in your brethren that are in the world.” Okay, I know that the right title for the “booger man” is “bogeyman.” But in Smithville, where I grew up in Southwest Georgia, he was called the “booger man.” We were told as children that, if we did not behave, the “booger man” would get us. The dictionary defines a “bogeyman” (if you insist) as “a frightening person, etc.” (Let’s just call him a frightening entity.) In Smithville, the term “booger man” usually called up thoughts of ghosts, werewolves, or even Frankenstein’s monster. My older brother and I shared a bedroom. His bed was across the room from mine. He went to sleep most every night with his radio on. One night, after he had gone to sleep, and I hadn’t, the “Inner Sanctum” was playing on his radio. You older folks will remember that this was the program that came on with a squeaking door. As I listened to the scary tale, I just knew that the “booger man” was about to get me. I wanted to walk across the room and turn the radio off, but I was afraid that the “booger man” would get me if I did. Now that I am more or less grown up, I know that the dreaded “booger man” was only a figment of my imagination, but the Bible has a “booger man” who is real, and even scarier than werewolves. He is called the devil or Satan. He is at work in the world, and has been since he fell from heaven because of his rebellion against God. Now, I know that some of you think that this “booger man” is as bogus as the “booger man” of my childhood. I know that one cannot be considered sophisticated or even avant-garde if one believes in the devil. Some of you think that you discarded this wily character when your college professor told you that this Biblical stuff was all a myth. It doesn’t help that we have made him a comic figure. He is usually depicted as a little red fellow with a forked tail, who is ugly but not very scary. Well, if you believe the Bible, you believe in the devil. It is interesting to me that a lot of people who do not believe that the devil is real, believe that angels are real. (Angels are a vastly misunderstood group in the Bible too, but that is a story for another day.) How do I know that the devil is real? He works on me every day, and he works on you every day as well, whether you believe in him or not. He is the source of our penchant for doing evil. He is the source of all strife, envy and hatred. He is the source of the doubt that keeps us from believing in a loving God, who sent His Son to die on the cross for us. He is having a field day in the world today, as he always has throughout history. He is having a field day in the church as well. It would be nice if he would stay away from church, but he is not nice and he loves to stir up God’s people and make us look foolish to the world. (And we often do not disappoint him.) It is true that he is walking about “seeking whom he may devour.” He does not care whose life he ruins. He loves to see people addicted to drugs and alcohol. He loves it when people get hooked on pornography and keep their minds on the seamier side of life. He loves it when we in churches gossip about each other and tear down the work that the Holy Spirit is doing in the world. He will have a field day in our lives until we stop believing his lie that he does not exist, or that, if he does, he is a harmless little red fellow with a forked tail. We used to say: “The ‘booger man’ will get you if you don’t watch out.” Well, Peter warned us about the real “booger man.” Let’s be aware of his presence and “resist him steadfast in the faith.” Only Jesus can handle Him. Trust Jesus to keep the “booger man” from getting you. Bro. Joe
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AuthorDr. Joe Beauchamp is the author of this blog and website. Categories
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