In recent decades past, the Mayor of New York City decided it would be a good idea to mandate restrictions on peoples’ personal decisions about their bodies (despite the fact that he’s politically aligned with a group of folks who think it’s ok to kill their unborn babies because people have a “right” to do what they want with their bodies). The first of these was to impose a prohibitive tax on soda and other sugary drinks in bottles that were two liters or more. Soon after this, he imposed a massive tax on cigarettes that raised the price of a pack of smokes to upwards of $20.00 a pack. The mayor was quick to tout the fiscal benefits of these policies by passing a budget that spent the anticipated tax revenue of these “incentives.” Unfortunately, the Mayor, a Boston native, did not understand the entrepreneurial ingenuity of New Yorkers, who quickly started renting vans, driving six hours to the Carolinas, loading up with cases upon cases of cheap smokes, and selling them on the streets at a price lower than the pretax levels. 

Not to be bested by his constituents, he then banned smoking from all private business, including cigar clubs and shot and beer dive bars. Noncompliance with this order would result in heavy fines and the business being closed. This took effect in the dog days of summer, which in New York City, can be downright savage; nevertheless, people complied, and gathered on the sweltering sidewalks in front of the air-conditioned dive bars to smoke. It wasn’t very long that the mayor decided that people standing on the sidewalks of the city’s streets smoking cigarettes was a greater health hazard than the tons of exhaust being spewed out by the hundreds of thousands of cars on the same city streets.  The next thing you know, he decided to ban people gathering on public sidewalks in groups of three or more, but only if they were smoking. This lasted about a year until it was soundly thrashed in the courts on First Amendment grounds, and during that summer heatwave, free citizens of New York City were once again allowed to stand on the sidewalk and chain smoke amongst the exhaust fumes with any number of peers they desired.

And once again, here we are in a July heatwave.

This time, I currently find myself on an assignment at a corporate office. They gave me a nice little office for me to set up my post. Floor to ceiling glass windows, full sunlight, innocuous background music, a nice little desk and a comfy chair, a rather pleasant change from the working conditions I am used to.

Did I mention floor to ceiling windows? Full sunlight? Yes, I did!  I am essentially sitting in a greenhouse. To make it even more fun, I am wearing a sports coat, a cotton shirt, beneath that I have a concealed ballistic vest (I work in Law Enforcement and need to take my safety seriously after all), and a cotton tee shirt under it all. Think of it like wearing thermal underwear under a sweater in July.

So, there I was, sweating like a stuck pig, trying to stay hydrated, and not have a heat stroke on a Monday. I found myself saying “Man it’s HOT in here. I will just have to push through.” After all, I’m supposed to be a tough guy, and deal with whatever circumstances come my way, it’s all part of the job. SUDDENLY, the A.C. cranks on and “That’s good thinking Cool Breeze…” came to mind (the first line of a long ago book; if you know, you know, if you don’t, don’t ask). Papa IS Good!!  He gots His eyes on me, and He takes care of all my needs, large and small!!

This ain’t the first time Papa took care of people who were dealing with heat.

There were these three guys, Hananiah, Mishel, and Azariah, who were living a decent life in a decent manner when an invading army brutally stomped their country, their city, and their home into rubble.  The three of them were bound, shackled, chained, and marched hundreds of miles to the headquarters of the conquering king. This king, Nebuchadnezzar, did everything possible to strip away the culture and identity of these three young men including changing their Hebrew names to names that honored the kings’ demonic “gods.” Hananiah became “Shadrach,” Mishel became “Meshach,” and Azariah became “Abed-Nego.”

Despite this attempted “re-education,” these three managed to hold on to their identity by holding on to the Holy One of Israel.  Things went OK for a while, sure they had to make adjustments, but they did all right and eventually advanced in standing and stature. But there was a test coming down the line. A major test.

Seems one day Nebuchadnezzar got it into his head that it would be a good idea that he ought to build a humongous statue of himself, get everybody in the country together, book a bunch of bands, and have a huge blowout shindig. At the peak of this hootenanny, the statue of Nebby would be unveiled, and everybody would bow down and worship it (think of the “Burning Man” festival on acid) (umm, never mind, it’s too late). Just to make sure that everybody gets to participate in the fun, the king decrees that whoever doesn’t join in and worship the statue gets tossed into the “Fiery Furnace.”

There are two things to consider here. First this “Fiery Furnace” ain’t no barbecue pit.  This is going on during the Iron Age and it takes a lot of heat to smelt iron ore. This is what they are talking about when they talk about the “Fiery Furnace.”  Secondly, Nebuchadnezzar and all of Babylon (and just about everybody else on the planet at the time) are worshipping false gods, mere counterfeits of El Shaddai.  Before the Temple in Jerusalem was trashed by Nebuchadnezzar, there were daily sacrifices of burnt offerings. This was a perversely twisted into burnt offering of human sacrifice.

In other words, you don’t play along with the kings’ delusion, you get roasted alive.

So,

The party goes off as planned, everybody’s there, the bands are rocking out, and at the big finale, the 80-foot-tall statue is unveiled, everybody drops to their knees and worships the statue, including all the Hebrews who were taken to Babylon in exile. All the Hebrews except three. Hananiah, Mishel, And Azariah. These guys held on to the truth and refused to be indoctrinated to the current culture.

To make a long story short, these boys were given a chance to publicly apologize, make amends, join the Cook Kids Club, worship the statue according to the State Religion, but they said “Nah, not gonna do it, toss us in the fire, God will save us. And even if he don’t, toss us in anyway.” They cranked up the fire until it was Stoopid Hot, so hot when the dudes who did the throwing in, threw them in, the throwing dudes got themselves cinderized. After they were tossed, the king noticed there was a fourth guy in there, not just three, and all four people seemed to be having a grand old time in the center of the inferno. This blew Nebby’s mind, and he told them guys to go get out of the furnace. Hananiah, Mishel, and Azariah walked out and the new guy was nowhere to be seen. Once the king gathered together the pieces of his totally blown mind and reassembled it, his mind was blown once again. The three young men were not harmed in any way by this insanely hot fire. They were not burned at all, not even a sunburn. Their clothes were not even singed, and there was no trace of the smell of smoke on them.

I said all of that to say this, and yes, it took me a while to get here… Hananiah, Mishel, and Azariah were in a “No Smoking Zone.”  

This is not one of them non-smoking zones you see these days where some politician, or some business owner, or some corporate cubicle dweller decided what you need to do or where you need to do it. This is different, verry different.

You are not merely “in” a No Smoking Zone. You ARE a No Smoking Zone!

You are the apple of the Father’s eye. You are so, so, so loved by Papa and He will protect His kids. Sure, things may get hairy, dangerous even, but hold tight onto Him who has a hold on you. Not only that, wherever you happen to be at any given time, you are a No Smoking Zone for those around you.  When everything hits the fan, you are the safest place to be. (Go read John 14:20 a few hundred times until you get it.) (Thanks Bill.) And don’t forget, God’s love is a consuming fire. Check out Song of Solomon chapter 8, Hebrews Chapter 12, and even shows up as fire in Acts Chapter 2. God’s fire protected the Prophet Ezekiel, and God showed up every night for 40 years as a pillar of fire in the wilderness!!

You have that same pillar of fire within you, and you are within it.

That’s a good place to be. You ain’t gonna get burned, and you are a No Smoking Zone!!

Every time you are out and about, and you see one of them No Smoking signs they put all over the place, let that be a reminder of not only WHO you are but WHOSE you are!!

Thanks for letting me take up some of your time.