777 Not 666

by Karen Duckett

Kids (as well as us adults) can get scared this time of year, with all the emphasis on the devil, witches, ghosts, and goblins.

I’ll never forget when the kids in my neighborhood told me, “The devil is calling people on the phone and telling them ‘666’!” They were truly scared.

Calmly I told them that the devil is not calling people. There is a devil, the enemy of man, but I knew this could not be real. Then I asked God what else I could say to help them understand.

“Don’t be scared of the number 666 or anything else the devil can do. But do be afraid of acting out 666 instead of 777,” I told them. Let me explain.

Certain numbers stand for different things in the Bible. The number of man is 6. The number of perfection, and the number of God, is 7.

God is three Persons – God the Father, God the Son (Jesus Christ), and God the Holy Spirit, so you could say His number is three 7s, or 777.

We need to make sure we choose 777 and not 666.

The first 6 in 666 means, “I’ll stick with man. I don’t need God the Father! I don’t need Him to help me, to teach me, to provide for me, to correct me, or to lead me! I don’t want God to be the Dad that I don’t have!”

The second 6 in 666 means, “I’ll stick with man. I don’t need God the Son (Jesus Christ)! I don’t need Him to take the punishment for my sins; I’ll pay for my own, thank you! I don’t need Him as the way to the Father, the Light of the World, and my Healer! I don’t want Him as my big Brother to fight for me!”

The third 6 in 666 means, “I’ll stick with man. I don’t need God the Holy Spirit! I don’t need Him to teach me, to remind me of everything Jesus said, to convict me of sin. I don’t want Him to comfort me or guide me! I will comfort and guide myself, thank you very much!”

So don’t be scared of the devil or anyone else saying, “666!” to you. But be very afraid of acting out 666 instead of 777!

The emphasis is not so much on what the devil can do to you, but what you can do to yourself if you tell God “No!” in small or big ways.

During the fall when kids dress up like ghosts and goblins and run along the streets looking for candy, let it be a reminder for us to make sure we do not act out 666 in our actions and our thoughts.

No, I’ll take 777 over 666 anyday. God all the way for me! What about you?