31/08/2026
A son of mine has gone to be with the Lord now. He d!ẹd of old age. When he got born again, he was a professor, very, very clever man. He was addicted to sm00king. The last thing he does before sleeping is to sm0ƙe. The first thing he does when he wakes up in the morning, before saying good morning to the wife is to sm0ƙe. Then he became born again. He was still sm0k!ng, and I tried to explain to him,
"Sir, now you're a child of God, old things are passed away, all things have become new."
He said, "I hear you, sir, and I will do whatever is in the Bible."
He said, "Show me where it is written, 'Thou shalt not sm0ke.'"
I said, "Sorry, sir, you have caught me there. It is not in the Bible."
I said, "Maybe in those days, people were not sm00king."
"Show me where it is written, 'Thou shalt not sm0ke.'"
I said, "It's not written."
He said, "Good. So let's leave the issue of sm00king alone."
I said, "Yes, sir."
Then I said one thing. I said, "When I was younger, in my village, when we went to catch a rodent—a rodent is a very big rabbit—they live inside holes.
When we went to catch one, as soon as we discovered the hole, we would get some dry leafs, push it as far inside as possible, set it on f!r€, and then we began to blow the sm⁰0ke into the hole. Very soon, when the whole h0le is full of smoke, the rabbit would jump out, and we would be outside here waiting for him."
I said, "Would you like to sm0ke out the Holy One that is in you?"
You want to breathe in sm0oke to go in there? Let us see how long it will take before him. He has taken so much sm0ke that he said, I can't stay here anymore.
That was the last day he sm0ked. He said, "I'm not going to disturb the one who is in there. I want him to stay."
Whatever you have been doing, that you yourself know this is not what God expect from a true child of God, stop it now. Don't let God leave.
— Pastor E A Adeboye
Transcribed by Flames Channel