Happy in the Muck

Have you ever wondered why some people seem to be so comfortable in their sin? They even seem to enjoy it. I have often contemplated this question. I was thinking about it today as a matter of fact.

It seems to me that the world is like a pigpen. The people in it are digging around in the dirt, rolling in the muck and gobbling up the slop the world has to offer. They are just as happy as they can be, because they don’t know any other way.

But sometimes someone comes along and points out the pristine white lambs playing in the crisp green meadow, eating clean sweet grass, lying on beds of soft foliage, drinking from the living water, and they begin to wonder if this pigpen life is all there is. They are no longer comfortable and happy in the muck.

It is up to us, as the purified lambs of Christ, to live in such a way that the world will want what we have. We must let the world know how Christ can clean them and make their world cleaner and fresher than the pigpen they are now in. We must let them know how much sweeter is the Bread of Life than the slop of sin, how much more refreshing is drinking from the living water than slurping from the mud puddle.

Are you living your life so as to convince the world that you have something special? Does you life reflect the purity of Christ or are you, as a purified lamb of Christ, going back to the pigpen and wallowing in the muck?

You see, when we become a Christian, God transforms us from swine into lambs. He cleans us up and makes us whiter then snow. Psalm 51:7 Cleanse me with hyssop, and I will be clean; wash me, and I will be whiter than snow. (CEV) Isaiah 1:18 "Come now, let us reason together," says the LORD. "Though your sins are like scarlet, they shall be as white as snow; though they are red as crimson, they shall be like wool. (NIV) But it is up to us to maintain the cleanliness. Search your life to find the dirt. Is there anything unwholesome in your life?

Think about the Ten Commandments. Is there anything you put ahead of God in your life: family, job, money, watching TV, or even eating for pleasure instead of survival? There is nothing wrong with any of those things, unless we make them a priority ahead of God. Then they can become our gods. (Deuteronomy 11:16 Be careful, or you will be enticed to turn away and worship other gods and bow down to them.)(NIV) Have you built for yourself an idol? This sounds silly in this day and age, but we sometime make idols out of the best of things. Is there anything you own that it would devastate you to lose: house, car, clothing, jewelry or shoes (ouch)? Everything we own belongs to God and He has every right to take it away, especially if we are putting it ahead of Him in our hearts and therefore making it an idol. If you watch TV, text, Facebook or twitter, you’ve seen OMG. Even though it is just letters, the meaning is clear and it is using God’s name incorrectly. I have always told my children and the children and teens I’ve taught in church, never use God’s name unless you are talking to Him or about Him, as in witnessing. Any other use of His or His Son’s name is wrong and should not be done. Do you over-work and not take a day off just to relax. How about talking back to your mother or father, even as adults we are to respect our parents and not sass or talk rudely to them. If you really listen, they may just have some words of wisdom to impart. Have you ever murdered? No? Have you ever wished someone dead or shouted in anger, “I could just kill you!” If you have, you have murdered in you heart. Jesus said don’t do it. Have you ever felt lust, lied, or saw something someone else had and wanted it so badly you took it, or bought it when you couldn’t afford it. All of these things are like the muck in the pigpen. If we wallow in them we will get dirty and God cannot tolerate filth. Think about it, do you like filth on your children?

It’s hard to live in the world without getting dirty sometimes, the world tends to splash, but we shouldn’t climb back into the pen to wallow in it. When we do get dirty we must return to the Shepherd for cleansing. We tend to get into trouble by seeing how close we can get to the dirt without getting filthy. It’s the climbing back into the pen that constitutes sin. How can we convince the pigs to become lambs if the lambs act no different from the pigs?

Are you standing too close to the pen? Are you watching movies and TV programs that can damage your walk with Christ? How about the books you read, the music you listen to, the jokes you listen to or tell (Ephesians 4:29 Do not let any unwholesome talk come out of your mouths, but only what is helpful for building others up according to their needs, that it may benefit those who listen.)(NIV), or even the things you look at on the Internet? How about the friends with whom you spend your time? Do they help you in your Christian life or do they splash a little muck in your direction?

Luke 21:34-36 "Be careful, don't spend all of your time thinking about eating or drinking or worrying about life. If you do, the final day will suddenly catch you like a trap. That day will surprise everyone on earth. Watch out and keep praying that you can escape all that is going to happen and that the Son of Man will be pleased with you. (CVE)