Joshua 9 vs. 6 (BSB)
They went to Joshua in the camp at Gilgal and said to him and the men of Israel, “We have come from a distant land; please make a treaty with us.”
While many tribes were gathering to fight the Israelites, the Gibeonites were a smart and cunning people; they had heard how God had parted the Red Sea and taken down the walls of Jericho; thus they decided to approach the Israelites with worn shoes, dusty clothes, tired donkeys, moldy bread, and a little water. This was to give the appearance that they were a weak group of men who had come from a far and impoverished land when in truth, they were neighbors.
The Gibeonites sought to agree with their enemy by forming a league. This would guarantee their safety but allow them to come close enough to their enemy so they could find ways to weaken and eventually overthrow them.
While we all know that smoking is a real enemy of our health and well-being, and is the number one cause of lung cancer, COPD, and emphysema, costing billions in health care, and taking members of our families way too soon, there is a more cunning enemy that has approached, which seems harmless, but the treaty it asks you to make is just as addictive and detrimental to your health as cigarettes. Vaping causes airway restriction, thus predisposing you to lung ailments. It causes dry mouth, increases heart rate and blood pressure, and causes stomach problems.
As you consider your habits, sometimes you think you are choosing the lesser of two evils, but the truth is that smoking is evil. It has one objective, and that is to destroy you, whether it takes you down as a sworn enemy that over the years has made its intentions clear, or deceitfully, pretending to be something it is not. May you have the courage to spot all your enemies near and far, and rid your land of them, as your very life depends upon it.
