By Sidharth Mohandas
Song of Solomon 2:15 says, "Catch us the foxes, the little foxes, that spoil the vines: for our vines have tender grapes."
I write this article because I find so many youngsters indulging in the evil of smoking. I happened to talk with a boy who asked me, �What�s wrong with smoking, if you can control yourself?� This is the question raised up by many youngsters when they are told not to smoke.
In this article, I wish to deal with Smoking as a �little fox�. What about these little foxes? Foxes in search for food would enter into grape orchards and devour the grapes and spoil the crop. However, the little foxes that couldn�t reach the grapes would start chewing on the vine so as to get the grapes. This is a whole lot more disastrous than just the grapes being destroyed.
When I tell people that smoking is an unholy habit, they often ask me: �Does the bible say so?� No, nowhere in the bible is it said, �Thou shalt not smoke�. Neither is tobacco mentioned in the bible, simply for the reason that it was not discovered during bible times.
Satan Is Cunning
The Lord told me that Satan was very patient with the people whom he is trying to deceive. He pours in deceit in small amounts, that the person would little realize he is being deceived. Jesus said, �The thief comes to plunder, to kill and to destroy�(John 10:10). Satan is the thief whose main aim is to destroy us. He first plunders and slowly kills you and eventually destroys you, if you yield to his deceit. This little fox called smoking is a tool Satan is using to fulfill his main aim of destroying people. Young people are the most vulnerable as many movie and television productions glamorize drinking and smoking. They never show the long-term effects these habits have on people.
Satan deceives them into thinking a little bit of smoking won�t matter. �I�ll just smoke once in a week. I won�t smoke more than that. I have control over myself.�, they say. Most people who say this end up fighting with a monster they are unable to overcome.
The Temple Of The Holy Spirit
Tobacco that is used in smoking has a highly poisonous drug called Nicotine. This is considered to be physically harmful. It is not only habit forming, but also addictive.
The bible teaches that our bodies are the temples of the Holy Spirit, and that we don�t belong to ourselves, but God has bought us with a price. And that means, we do not have the authority to treat our bodies the way we want. We don�t have the authority to poison our bodies with some poisonous drug. If we do, it�s a sin against the Holy Spirit.
�Do you not know that your body is the temple of the Holy Spirit, who is in you, whom you have received from God? You are not your own; you were bought at a price. Therefore honor God with your body�(1 Corinthians 6:19-20)
Now I want to tell you the context in which Paul tells the Corinthian believers the above passage. Paul here was speaking about sexual immorality that was being practiced among the believers. He says sexual immorality is a sin done against ones body. So if sexual immorality is a sin done against the body, knowingly feeding poison into your body is a sin at the same level as sexual immorality. God has no quality or quantity for sin. Sin is sin.
Does Smoking Glorify God?
Now later Paul says in 1 Corinthians 10:31, �So whether you eat or drink or whatever you do, do it for the glory of God�. Paul says, �Whatever you do�. Does smoking glorify God? Beloved, you could avoid a lot of habits by asking that question to yourself: �Does this glorify God?�.
My dear friends, don�t compromise with the ways of the world. God has called us with a holy calling. He has called us to live holy in this wicked world. And it�s only by living holy, can we glorify the Lord. What does it mean to live holy? It means we must separate ourselves from all sin and all that is of this world. The ship is meant to be in the sea, not the sea inside the ship. Likewise, we are in the world but not of the world.
Those who want to have a shallow experience with God can do what they want, but they�re soon going to dry up. The Scripture gives us strong admonishment regarding holiness. It says, �Without holiness no man shall see the Lord�(Hebrew 12:15). Does that give you a jolt? Well, you want to lose heaven because of some little unholy habit you have? Is it worth it?
If you have a smoking problem or any kind of bondage, I encourage you to write to me using the Prayer Request Column and we will pray that God will raise His hand of deliverance for you that you will no more touch a cigarette.