The cure for superstition is an increased appreciation of the being of God: not names only, but character and being. The idea that the devil is afraid of a word or a gesture is pure superstition. He is not afraid of any name, not even the name Jesus. There are thousands of little boys in Latin America who bear that name, and surely Satan does not stand in fear of them. No, it is not a combination of letters that strikes terror to the heart of Satan. It is the glorious Person who bears the name Jesus whom he fears. To the name Jesus God has added the titles ?Lord and Christ,? and this means that all power has been given unto Him in heaven and in earth. Back of the name is the sovereign Person of God?s Son, our Savior. From this Person Satan flees, but it is a waste of time and effort to try to impress him with mere words and phrases. In the degree that we know God Himself, we shall be free from superstitious fears; and in the degree that we are affected by signs, gestures, phrases and ?religious objects? (as they are naively called), we are in the bonds and snares of superstition.
