Tobacco | AdventAI

The Seventh-day Adventist Publishing Association · Battle Creek, Mich. · Nov 28, 1865

Tobacco.

The man who is a slave to tobacco makes it his idol. And has not God said in thunder tones, "Thou shalt have no other gods before me?" And are we not informed in the Bible that whoever breaks the least of God's commandments is guilty of the whole? Why will a man hazard his soul for that which is fast making a wreck of his body? When the starving man is fed, his soul is for the time satisfied. When the appetite craving for tobacco is gratified, then the soul is also satisfied. Yes, satisfied to lie down in the jaws of death—in the whirlwind of destruction! But when death approaches where is your surety; where is your guide to the pearly gates? You have made tobacco your god, but it does not grow in Heaven, so you do not want to go there. You have allowed it to lull your conscience all through the journey, and now your consolation forsakes you at the portal of the other world. You have been idle in regard to spiritual things in this life, and now an eternity of idleness awaits you. This morning, while conversing with a tobacco devotee, he said, "I must have my tobacco. It is more company to me when alone than any person could be. When I try to break off using it I want something all the time, and then I have to begin again." If then, it is such a cruel master, let me implore you, young men, to beware of the fetters. Do not think because others use it that this is any excuse for you. You are individually responsible to God your Maker, for the sins you commit. Heed a timely warning and studiously avoid an evil so destructive to soul and body.