Friday, December 28, 2007 at 2:02am
Did God love Anna Nicole Smith?
Column: For His Glory
This column originally was published on Feb. 9, 2007.
Anna Nicole Smith died yesterday in her hotel room. Many fear that drugs may have had something to do with her death. The autopsy will reveal the true story. As I read about her life, I cannot help but recognize the difficult times she endured throughout the last couple of years. The most grievous of these stories had to do with the death of her son shortly after her daughter's birth. Her son died of a drug overdose; hopefully Anna did not die the same way.
Anna Nicole lived a life that many would consider wild and exotic. She was on the cover of Playboy magazine and was Playmate of the Year. To many, her lifestyle disregarded all the principles that Christians hold dear to our hearts. Yet what should we say about her? We can all agree, Christians and non-Christians, that she may not have made the best choices in life — but who has? Her life was not in line with biblical principles, but does that exclude her from the love of God? God loved Anna Nicole Smith and He knows her life better than anyone on earth, and that is the beauty of God's love. Christians at times tend to look at the outside and condemn people by their outward actions. Yet Christ said that only God can read the heart. Was she a model church choir girl? No. Was she a child of God? You bet, so let's leave her in God's hands.
God is so wonderful that He can turn Saul the killer into Paul the saint. He can give hope to a dying thief in the last few minutes of his life. A prostitute named Mary can become one of His most loyal disciples. Only in heaven will we really know what God made out of Anna Nicole Smith. Until then, we all have our thoughts about who she was, what she did and what will be her legacy. Life is brief; therefore we must guard it carefully, because every precious moment we have can be our last. Each breath we take is a gift, a chance to find Christ as a new best friend.
Anna Nicole Smith will be remembered for the external events of her life. God will remember the thoughts of her heart. For God is the searcher of the heart.
As my wife and I read about her death, we were saddened, not because we knew her but because we had heard about the tragedies in her life and because dying young is dying too soon. May God bless her family and yours too.
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Gio Marin is the pastor of the College Station and Waller Seventh-day Adventist Church in the state of Texas. He is currently working on a master of divinity degree at Andrews Seventh-day Adventist Theological Seminary, with a dual emphasis on systematic theology and church growth & evangelism. Send him an email at {email GioMarinColumn@aol.com}GioMarinColumn@aol.com{/email}. © Copyright 2007 by Gio Marin.
Anna Nicole Smith died yesterday in her hotel room. Many fear that drugs may have had something to do with her death. The autopsy will reveal the true story. As I read about her life, I cannot help but recognize the difficult times she endured throughout the last couple of years. The most grievous of these stories had to do with the death of her son shortly after her daughter's birth. Her son died of a drug overdose; hopefully Anna did not die the same way.
Anna Nicole lived a life that many would consider wild and exotic. She was on the cover of Playboy magazine and was Playmate of the Year. To many, her lifestyle disregarded all the principles that Christians hold dear to our hearts. Yet what should we say about her? We can all agree, Christians and non-Christians, that she may not have made the best choices in life — but who has? Her life was not in line with biblical principles, but does that exclude her from the love of God? God loved Anna Nicole Smith and He knows her life better than anyone on earth, and that is the beauty of God's love. Christians at times tend to look at the outside and condemn people by their outward actions. Yet Christ said that only God can read the heart. Was she a model church choir girl? No. Was she a child of God? You bet, so let's leave her in God's hands.
God is so wonderful that He can turn Saul the killer into Paul the saint. He can give hope to a dying thief in the last few minutes of his life. A prostitute named Mary can become one of His most loyal disciples. Only in heaven will we really know what God made out of Anna Nicole Smith. Until then, we all have our thoughts about who she was, what she did and what will be her legacy. Life is brief; therefore we must guard it carefully, because every precious moment we have can be our last. Each breath we take is a gift, a chance to find Christ as a new best friend.
Anna Nicole Smith will be remembered for the external events of her life. God will remember the thoughts of her heart. For God is the searcher of the heart.
As my wife and I read about her death, we were saddened, not because we knew her but because we had heard about the tragedies in her life and because dying young is dying too soon. May God bless her family and yours too.
— — —
Gio Marin is the pastor of the College Station and Waller Seventh-day Adventist Church in the state of Texas. He is currently working on a master of divinity degree at Andrews Seventh-day Adventist Theological Seminary, with a dual emphasis on systematic theology and church growth & evangelism. Send him an email at {email GioMarinColumn@aol.com}GioMarinColumn@aol.com{/email}. © Copyright 2007 by Gio Marin.