Stopping At The Drugstore

It was Sunday and that meant after church, Daddy wanted to stop by the drug store to pick up a paper. He knew his little seven year old daughter loved the Sunday funnies and he liked to catch up on the happenings in the Arkansas Gazette.

"Can I go inside with you, Daddy?

"Yes, but you can't have an ice cream cone because it would spoil your dinner and you know Mother wouldn't like that."

So, I jumped out of the car; grabbed my daddy's big hand and we walked inside. As I looked around, I saw my Sunday School teacher's head. She was sitting in one of the booths with three other women. Oh, how I loved that lady! She was always so prim and proper; always had on her Sunday best and always smiled so sweetly. I was always in a hurry to get to the big red brick church down the street from the post office so I could sit in the little chair next to her. The minute I saw her, I released my daddy's hand and ran over to the booth.

"Hi, Ms. K, I'm here................." and with that I stopped. My beautiful teacher; the lady I adored and wanted to be just like, had an awful, ugly, smelly cigarette in her hand. I was stunned; I couldn't say another word. I ran as fast as I could back to my daddy and grabbed his hand.

"I'm ready to go, Daddy", I said, tears stinging my eyes. I knew my daddy smoked; a lot of men did. I was use to smelling his Camel cigarette smoke but I wasn't use to seeing a woman smoke; particularly my Sunday School teacher.

From then on, each Sunday morning, I didn't race to sit beside Mrs. K. Instead, I tried to get as far from her as I could. All I could think of as she was telling the bible story was seeing her with that awful cigarette in her hand.

I didn't know what the bible said about smoking a cigarette. I just knew, for some reason, that it didn't look right that my teacher was smoking one. I know now that the bible doesn't prohibit smoking or drinking other than saying this :

"Looking at it one way, you could say, “Anything goes. Because of God’s immense generosity and grace, we don’t have to dissect and scrutinize every action to see if it will pass muster.” But the point is not to just get by. We want to live well, but our foremost efforts should be to help others live well." 1 Corinthians 10:23-24 (MSG)

I know the last thing on Ms. K's mind was to cause one of her Sunday School kids to think less of her; I'm sure in her mind, smoking was okay.

When I was sixteen, I went with a bunch of girlfriends to spend the night on the river. One of them had some cigarettes and she urged each of us to smoke one. Giving in to peer pressure, I succumbed and took one. About four puffs into it, I realized I really liked the taste; I could really get into this smoking thing.
 
Just then, I remembered myself as that little seven year old seeing my Sunday School teacher with that cigarette and I immediately tossed the one in my hand and ground it into the wet sand. I believe God brought that thought to my mind. Perhaps the reason He allowed me to see my Sunday School teacher doing something I thought at the time was very wrong for a woman to do, was so at this very time in my teen years, I would forgo the desire to ever smoke.

"Therefore let us no longer pass judgment on one another, but rather determine not to put a stumbling block or an obstacle in a brother’s way. Romans 14:13 (MEV)

We need to take time to ask how our behavior and appearance are perceived by others. Everything a Christian does influences what people think of Christians. None of us are perfect; we all make mistakes. But, it is important to be sure we are not doing something that would cause another to stumble.

"With promises like this to pull us on, dear friends, let’s make a clean break with everything that defiles or distracts us, both within and without. Let’s make our entire lives fit and holy temples for the worship of God." 2 Corinthians 7:1 (MSG)