April 1999 Issue

Eternity....

What's YOUR Preference:

Smoking or Non-Smoking?

By Mark J. Ward

How often are you asked your "preference" when you go out to eat at a restaurant? Often, we are greeted by a cheerful employee who asks "How many will be in your party? And what's your seating preference: smoking or non-smoking?"

When we think of eternity...we DO have a choice in the matter. Calvinism is false! There is an open invitation for "whosoever will" to come and take of the water of life freely (See John 3:15,16; 4:14). When people in the New Testament asked if they could "do" anything (not meritorious, mind you, but to have God's mercy, grace and forgiveness applied) they were NOT TOLD, "Naw, you are either saved or not saved by God's design..there ain't nothin' you can do about it...you are either preselected/predestined by God before the world began to be in the saved group...or you are in the lost group...sorry!" The Bible teaches that...God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that WHOSOEVER...should not perish, but have everlasting life..Remember that passage of Scripture (John 3:16)? Do we believe it? I hope so!

There are some folks today who do not believe the plain truths presented in God's Word. The Bible clearly teaches only two places of abode in eternity: heaven and hell (See Matthew 25:46; I Thess. 4:14-18 & II Thess. 1:6-9). I ask: What's my/your "preference" for eternity? And more importantly, What are you and I doing about it (i.e. where we will be in eternity) daily? Are we living in such a way as to show God how much we love Him? If we love Him, we will keep his commandments (See I John 5:1-3).

We shouldn't have to be asked a seating preference in a restaurant. Folks ought not smoke. Those that do usually choose the seating preference of "smoking" when they go out to eat. People ought not do a lot of things, tho'. As free moral agents, people "can smoke, if they want to", I guess. They will receive a just reward for it now, healthwise, and later, God will properly judge this action (for which I can find no Bible authority) in the judgment day. But concerning eternity, EVERYONE prefers "heaven" to "hell", don't they? Doesn't everyone in eternity want "non-smoking" (pun intended readership)??? One problem may be that we are not really "acting" and "living" daily like we really love God in order to show Him that's our preference. Think about it. Thanks for reading. --mjw

Email the Editor at markjward@yahoo.com