Smoking or Non-Smoking?

They will be punished with eternal destruction, forever separated from the Lord and from his glorious power. II Thessalonians 1:9 (NLT)

 "Smoking or non-smoking?" the hostess asked upon our entrance into the restaurant.

"Non-smoking, please. Just like my eternity," I would sometimes quip because I am who I am.

Today, restaurant hosts and hostesses in more than half of the United States ask only for the size of your party because smoking is prohibited by law in their restaurants.

Before the smoke free laws were in force, most people made the decision of where in the restaurant they would like to be seated based on truths that they knew.

Those who are non-smokers, like me and my husband, chose "non-smoking" because we knew the smell of cigarette smoke diminished our enjoyment of not only our meal, but also our evening.

Conversely, those who smoked would choose "smoking" because being able to smoke, and perhaps even just the smell of smoke, enhanced their enjoyment of their meal and evening.

That's a lot of thought given to something so temporary and inconsequential as a cheeseburger, isn't it!? Believe me, we are not fancy restaurant people, yet we knew our truth and made our seating preference based on that truth...even at the local diner.

Do we give that much thought, or even half that thought, to decisions that have more eternal consequences than a cheeseburger?

Do we know as much truth about Heaven and Hell as we do about the calories in a Dunkin' Donuts Pumpkin Spice Latte or a pint of Ben & Jerry's Chunky Monkey ice cream?

Do we go to the same lengths to avoid eternal misery as we do temporary misery?

While we may no longer need to decide whether we will dine in a smoking or non-smoking area, we still need to decide how we will dwell: smoking or non-smoking. We can only make this decision when we know the truth about our choices; just like we know the truth about the calories in our favorite coffee drink that gives us pause when deciding what size to order.

To know the absolute truth about Heaven and Hell we must go the source of absolute truth – Scripture.

In Scripture, Hell is described as a fiery furnace where God's angels will throw the wicked (Matthew 13:50).

Revelation 20:10 says, "Then the devil, who had deceived them, was thrown into the fiery lake of burning sulfur..."

Now, you may be thinking these verses simply imply that Hell is a physical place of fire to which Satan and his angels will be sentenced when Jesus returns.

Oh friend, Hell is much more than a physical place and it is for far more than Satan and his angels.

Just like Heaven, it is eternal.

The remainder of Revelation 20:10 says, "...and they will be tormented day and night forever and ever." In other words, they will be tormented for eternity.

To me, it would be bad enough if Hell really was just a literal blazing inferno. It is much, much worse though than a physical place with a whole lot of fire and heat.

In all likelihood, the terms "fiery furnace" and "fiery lake of burning sulfur" are used to give us an idea of what Hell is like. They're not used to give us a physical description of Hell (my title "Smoking or Non-Smoking" is purely tongue-in-cheek).

However, we know from Scripture what Hell is.

It is a place of torment (Revelation 20:10).

Torment occurs in our thoughts and  is much worse than torture.

Torture occurs in the body. If the torture is bad enough, it can kill the body thus putting an end to the torture.

There will be no end to the torment (Revelation 14:11; Revelation 20:10; 2 Thessalonians 1:9).

While Heaven and Hell share the similarity of being eternal, they differ greatly in that Heaven will be eternally full of God's presence (Ezekiel 48:35) and Hell will be eternally absent of it (Matthew 25:41).

Like Heaven, we haven't been given all the details of Hell. Just enough to make the existence of both real to us.

I believe that in order to better see the reality of Heaven, we must also see the corresponding reality of Hell.

Moreover, we must see too that we have been given an invitation to Heaven through the crucifixion and resurrection of Jesus Christ (John 3:16). Not everyone goes to Heaven, even if they are a "good" person. Only those who believe in Jesus Christ will be in Heaven (John 3:36).

Have you ever truly considered where you will spend your eternity?

Has what you've read here today influenced you in any way? I hope that if nothing else, it has caused you to want to investigate what God says about both Heaven and Hell, and I hope you choose Heaven.

If you accept/have accepted Jesus' invitation to Heaven, I can assure you that you will be seated with the rest of us non-smokers.

And instead of hearing, "Enjoy your evening" as we are seated at the Lord's banquet table, maybe we'll hear, "Enjoy your eternity."

"Thank you. I've been planning on it."