Grace and peace, Saints.

It is no secret that Satan is after our kids, and that is why it is important that we, as Christian parents, keep our antenna up for the slightest hint of trouble.  Most of us are aware of the various methods Satan uses to gain an avenue into our children’s spiritual lives, and we take steps to protect our children from his influence through these mediums.  But we often fail to consider that something as innocent as candy–yes, candy–can be used as a weapon against our children.

Case in point:  Last year, I allowed my two youngest daughters to hang out at the mall with their two best friends.  Now, I would normally not have let them do this, because they are too young to go to the mall alone (I’m very old school).  But, I know my wife, and I know that, being unsaved, and not having the discernment that she should, she had, on occasion, allowed my children to do things that I would not.  Going to the mall is one of those things.

You may recall that my wife and I have only just gotten back together after being separated for over four years.  My children are saved, thank God, but they had been living with their unsaved mother for the last two and a half years without the benefit of godly counsel.  Now, Satan would have loved for me to have come in and put my foot down and become a “holy tyrant,” because he could use this to turn my children off to the Christian way of life and to Jesus Christ.  All too often, well-meaning Christian parents have been too heavy-handed in their attempts to sanctify their homes and insulate their children from satanic influence, only to drive them away from Jesus altogether. 

I decided, therefore, that, under the circumstances, it would be better to let them go, making sure to take the proper security precautions.  It would also be a great opportunity to see where my children were maturity-wise.

Well, they did go, and they did a stellar job, calling me when they got there, and remaining in the mall like I asked them to.  When it was time for them to come home, they called me, and my wife and I went to pick them up, and we all took the subway home.  On the way, there was an interesting development:  My daughter pulled out what appeared to be a pack of cigarettes.  A bolt of lightning passed through my body.  As it turned out, it was a pack of chewing gum made to look like a pack of cigarettes, and each stick of gum was in the shape of a cancer stick. 

I asked God to give me the wisdom to explain to my children why this was not a good idea.  The Lord instructed me to handle it thus:  I asked my daughter if it is good for a person to smoke cigarettes.  When she replied that it was not, I asked her why.  She told me that it was bad for a person’s health, because a person could get cancer and die.  I then asked her if she believed that there is a war going on between Satan and Jesus Christ and between their followers.  She responded that there was indeed a war going on.  I told her that Satan hates all humanity and is trying to destroy us using every means at his disposal.  Substance abuse is one way that Satan is accomplishing this, and cigarette smoking is a form of substance abuse. 

I next asked if she ever noticed that people smoke an awful lot, and when she responded, yes, I asked her if she ever saw young people and children smoking.  She told me that many of the children in her class smoke.  My daughter is 15.

I then asked her if she knew how any of her classmates got started smoking, and she said that one of her classmates had told her that her own mother tried to get her to smoke.   As for the rest, she didn’t know how they got started.  I then held up the pack of candy cigarettes and asked her if she thought that this might be a way that a young person could get interested in smoking.  At that, her eyes got wide, and at the point of tears, she started apologizing profusely.  She felt that she should have known better.

I consoled her and told her that it was all right and that this was how Satan works.  He always takes something evil and makes it look completely harmless and innocent by turning it into a game, a toy, or, in this case, chewing gum.  I explained that candy cigarettes are a way to make cigarette smoking acceptable to children by tempting them with something less lethal.  The cigarettes almost look real, and a child who wants to look cool and adult and be accepted, can do so without any perceived ramifications.

At the same time, parents, who allow their children to have candy cigarettes, think that it’s only harmless chewing gum, completely unaware of the subtle suggestion that is working in their children’s minds.  

I explained that Satan does the same thing with guns.  Guns can kill you, and any thing that can kill you should be taken very seriously, not made into a toy.  Yet, this is exactly what happens.  Cigarettes, I told her, are, in a way, like guns.  They, too, can kill you.   They should, therefore, be taken very seriously and the user should be sober and aware of the consequences of misuse and abuse.  Guns and cigarettes are serious business and should be treated as such.  Making either into a toy or candy minimizes the lethal nature of both in the minds of children and adults. 

To further illustrate my point, I reminded my daughter how, often while we are together, I will point out a cigarette machine and tell her that if people were not buying cigarettes, it would not be cost effective for cigarette machines to be so ubiquitous.

But in Munich, cigarette machines can be found most everywhere (Munchners are notorious chain smokers).  That means that people are buying cigarettes.  And if people are buying cigarettes, then people are smoking cigarettes.  And if people are smoking cigarettes, then people are dying from cigarettes.

I have no doubt that for a significant number of those who smoke and have died from smoking, it all started with a pack of candy cigarettes.  How do I know?  Because my siblings and I used to buy them when we were children.  And my brothers and sisters all smoke.  By the grace of God, I never have.  But, as I told my daughter, both my grandparents and both my parents died of lung cancer.  Now if candy cigarettes were around when I was a child, it’s a safe bet they were also around when my parents and possibly even grandparents were children.  Only time will tell what the ultimate effect of those candy cigarettes will be on my brothers and sisters.  Harmless, right?  

Make no mistake: candy cigarettes were “assigned and designed” for one express purpose: to get children interested in smoking at a young age.  If you are having problems digesting this, or you think I’m some crazy “conspiracy theorist,” consider that on the side of the package, where the cancer warning label would normally be found on an actual pack of cigarettes, was this label:

The label translates: “Blow into the gum stick and see how the magical smoke rises into the air!”  

Can you see that the idea is for children to try to look as though they are smoking an actual cigarette?  Is it not obvious that the idea here is to get children interested in smoking?  Trust me, this is not a good thing.

Lastly I asked my daughter whose idea it was to buy the candy cigarettes, and she told me that it was her friend.  Like my daughter, her friend was born and raised in Germany.   And many Germans start smoking openly around twelve or thirteen years of age.  Unlike my daughter, however, her friend doesn’t have me as a parent.  I don’t smoke and neither does my wife, so we aren’t part of the smoking culture, and, don’t, therefore, regard cigarette smoking as a cool thing.  So, no candy cigarettes allowed.

One thing this whole event taught me was that it is crucial that we have a good rapport with our children.  They must be able to trust us and our judgment.  We must not tell them that they must do what we tell them because they live in our house, but that they must do what we tell them because God says so and God knows what is best for them. 

We must also remember that even though the Bible says that children should obey their parents, It also says that as parents we should not provoke our children to anger (Colossians 3:21).  We must be careful how we react when they make a mistake, and they must be allowed to make mistakes without us always jumping down their throats.  And when we inevitably do jump down their throats, we must not hesitate to apologize to them and to let them know that what we did was inappropriate.  Children need to be treated like human beings with feelings and not property to be treated any way we choose.

In closing, it is important to add that, as parents, we need to also check out our children’s friends.  What happened with my daughter may very well have been an innocent mistake on the part of her friend.  But, then again, it could very well have been intentional.  Either way, I am not ignorant of Satan’s devices—and neither should you.

One more thing: If you are addicted to cigarettes, you could very well be under a generational curse, as addictions and substance abuse are a sure sign.  Find out how to get free here.  This teaching is available at the iTunes Store for playback on your smart phone, ipod, or other listening device.  Subscribe to our podcast today!  

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Be encouraged and look up, for your redemption draweth nigh. 

The Still Man