“Then Jesus said, ‘The Sabbath was made for man, not man for the Sabbath.’”—Mark 2:27
When I was growing up, cigarette smoking was at an all-time high. It wasn’t long before I was born, in 1955, that cigarettes were advertised as being good for you. As a result, so many people—from kids to adults—became addicted, especially in the morning. I remember seeing people whose faces looked so tired that even though our family didn’t believe in smoking we would say: “that guy really needs a cigarette”. And You’d see people who looked so cool by the way they blew smoke rings or the way they held a cigarette between two fingers. There were so many stylish techniques—like those who could talk with a cigarette in their mouth, making it bounce up and down without falling out. Or the ones who left a cigarette dangling precariously from their lips, so close to falling that you couldn’t take your eyes off it, half-expecting it to drop and start a fire. Samuel Clemens (better known as Mark Twain) once said, “Quitting smoking is easy. I’ve done it a thousand times.”
But here’s a surprise! When we get to heaven, there might just be smoking sections. After all, there will be no cancer in heaven, and everyone will be so kind that they won’t mind the spittoons, the secondhand smoke, the bad breath, or the yellow teeth.
And that leads us to the heart of the Lord of the Sabbath passage. We are told by friends, parents, doctors not to smoke or use tobacco because it is a habit which can give us cancer robbing us of years of life. God wants us to be discipled not for his sake but for ours. God doesn’t give us commands just for His sake—He gives them for our sake, too. Dallas Willard used to talk about the high cost of non-discipleship—what happens when families are raised without morals or values. The cost of living against God’s laws is far greater than we realize. I believe God’s principles exist because they are good for us, not because He delights in punishing us. A God who loves to punish doesn’t square with the Jesus we know.
Come this week as our inspirational Lead Pastor, Mark Nsimbi, shares about The Lord of the Sabbath. You may just discover wonderful truths you’ve never thought about before.
Your friend for the rest of my life,
Pastor Tim White