A Pig in the Muck or Sheep in a Pit?

And the younger of them said to his father, Father, give me the portion of goods that falleth to me. And he divided unto them his living. And not many days after the younger son gathered all together, and took his journey into a far country, and there wasted his substance with riotous living.
Luke 15:12-13 (KJV)

The story of the prodigal son is one of the most well-loved and powerful in scripture. It is a parable which serves as a constant reminder to us of the love of the Father and His main ministry to us which is to forgive us our sins. Jesus paid for our sins, we apply His shed blood to our debts and the Father forgives them.

And when he had spent all, there arose a mighty famine in that land; and he began to be in want. And he went and joined himself to a citizen of that country; and he sent him into his fields to feed swine. And he would fain have filled his belly with the husks that the swine did eat: and no man gave unto him.
Luke 15:14-16 (KJV)

Did the Father come and pull His son out of the pig sty and bring him back home? No, He did not. In addition to love and forgiveness the story of the prodigal son is also an illustration of our free wills. At any time we can choose to leave the Father’s house and wallow in the filth of this world.

But one of the subtle ways that Satan twists scripture is to take a parable about one matter and misapply it to another. In the case of the prodigal son He takes a parable designed to illustrate love and forgiveness and deceives us into applying it to his lie of eternal security that he propagates so relentlessly through his Great Whore, the apostate churches.

And bring hither the fatted calf, and kill it; and let us eat, and be merry: For this my son was dead, and is alive again; he was lost, and is found. And they began to be merry.
Luke 15:23-24 (KJV)

The importance of the above passage is always glossed over by the servants of Satan running the churches. The son was dead to the Father while he was out of fellowship with Him. If Christ returns today and you are still willingly eating with the pigs will you go to Heaven? No, you will not.

Does anyone remember the “John Benton” series of books? Each one was the testimony of someone who was terribly bound by drugs, alcohol, prostitution or some other sin and just when everything seems hopeless they are miraculously ‘saved’ by the power of Jesus Christ. That probably sounds like a positive message of hope and inspiration to you, but I’m going to ask you to look a little deeper.

How many prodigal sons and daughters are out there right now eating with the pigs and waiting for Jesus to come and pull them out of their muck? The kingdom of God is faith driven, once the prodigal son’s eyes were opened he didn’t kick back and wait to be rescued, he did something about it. He turned away from the pig slop and put one foot in front of the other on his journey back to his Father’s house.

And he arose, and came to his father. But when he was yet a great way off, his father saw him, and had compassion, and ran, and fell on his neck, and kissed him. And the son said unto him, Father, I have sinned against heaven, and in thy sight, and am no more worthy to be called thy son.
Luke 15:20-21 (KJV)

This is faith in action; the type of faith with works that counts as righteousness, the only type of faith that matters (James 2:17 KJV). He knew his Father loved him and would accept him but he still had to make his way back. The second we take just a single step back towards our Heavenly Father He is aware of it. He didn’t make His son walk every step back alone but went to meet him when he was still a long way off. This is the joy of this parable; yes, we must choose to go back to the Father of our own free will, but as soon as we take a step He is there to help us along. Praise be to our God who is so loving and merciful!

And he said unto them, What man shall there be among you, that shall have one sheep, and if it fall into a pit on the sabbath day, will he not lay hold on it, and lift it out?
Matthew 12:11 (KJV)

Unlike the prodigal son who ate with the pigs as one of them some of us act as sheep. We sometimes fall into pits and cannot escape them on our own. God knows our strengths, weaknesses and our hearts. Even a sheep that has fallen into a pit and cannot escape on its own still makes efforts to escape it and loudly bleats for help.

Our walk with Christ is not always easy folks, sometimes we wander away from Him of our own free will and sometimes we fall into a ditch. We must learn to recognize one situation from the other and make every possible effort to make it back to our Heavenly Father and Good Shepherd.

Which are you a sheep or pig? A pig loves the dirt. Sheep may be dumb and practically helpless animals, but one of their traits is that they don’t like to get their wool dirty. Christ will not rescue sheep who willingly wallow in the muck like pigs in a sty. We are all sinners, the only thing that separates us from the unbeliever is our attitude towards it. Do we wallow in it like a pig or try our hardest to keep our wool clean as a sheep?