At my old law firm, there were three levels of parking. The tenants of each floor received a certain number of prime parking spots on P1, the highest level. You didn't have to be on the elevator as long, and when you came in to park, you just zoomed right in. Most of the associates, like me, parked in the unreserved spots on the second level, P2. I eventually became valued enough that when we expanded and got more P1 spots, I got one. In my many years there, I almost never went down to P3.
One day, I can't even recall the reason, I drove down to P3. I had wondered whether anyone even parked there, because as far as I knew, everyone parked on P2. There was plenty of room there. So why keep driving? I discovered on that day that the people who parked on P3 were the smokers. When I drove down, there was a group of them, all huddled up, smoking together.
When I went back to get my car, there was another huddled group, smoking. They looked so sad. They looked so twitchy. It made me think. They didn't want to smoke on P2, or P1, possibly because people complained when they did. The smoke from their habit bothered other people or embarrassed them, or both. They went down to P3 to hide.
Today's topic is the "Word of Wisdom" and how rules create freedom.
Many years ago, Emma Smith complained to her husband that every time they had a meeting of early church members, her house was filthy afterward. She had to clean up cigars, ash, and clear out the smoky smells. This eventually prompted what we now know as the Word of Wisdom. You can learn more about it out here. It basically gives a guide for how to live healthy. It discusses eating healthy foods, in moderation, following good sleeping habits, and more.
It also says not to use alcohol or tobacco.
I can't tell you how many friends have said the same thing to me. "You guys can't drink? You can't smoke? You can't have sex before you're married? (Ok, that's a topic for another post, but they do marvel at that one, too.) Why are you part of a church with so many rules? I just want to do what I want to do, and it's my body, so why shouldn't I?"
Because, in case you didn't already know, some rules, the right RULES, create FREEDOM.
If you don't know someone who is an alcoholic, you may not know this, but there are some people in the world who take a single sip of alcohol and then they cannot stop drinking. They got hammered their first time drinking, and pretty much every time since then. There are other people who say, "Oh it's not a problem, because I have it under control."
Alcohol is diametrically opposed to control.
Smoking and alcohol are both addictions and they both impact your body. Satan uses these to chain you down, to hold you back and to limit your potential.
I have chosen, despite occasional and sometimes even frequent, peer pressure, not to drink. I don't smoke. I adhere to the rules of the word of wisdom, and by so doing, my body is healthy and strong. I am able to go and do and work and exercise and my life has more freedom, more options. Things like smoking and alcohol, they tie you down to more smoking, more alcohol. They control where you park, where you go, how you spend your money and they impact how your body feels.
Sometimes following some rules, sometimes choosing not to make bad decisions will give you more freedom in the future. God knows this, and that is why He gives us these rules. We always have the freedom to choose. We can choose to smoke, to drink, etc, but if we do, our bodies, our strength, our lives will be limited. We will be less free.
I still have that image in my mind, those people all huddled together in a cloud of foul smelling smoke, chain smoking together. I thought of how they have to park below everyone else, hiding away, destroying their lungs together, and shelling out quite a bit of money to do it. I hope that I will always have the fortitude to follow the rules a loving Heavenly Father has set out for me, to keep me free from the bonds of addiction. I hope you can, too. And I hope you can see things in a new light, and recognize that rules do not always mean you are tied down. Sometimes they are intended to help you soar.
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