Don't Be A Pig

Hogs on the highway sometimes mean Harley riders blazing down the road. Then again, sometimes it means…hogs on the highway! According to the AR Democrat-Gazette, a tractor trailer carrying some 90 hogs overturned on I-430 between Little Rock & North Little Rock early Monday. Some remained on the trailer while others made a break for it! Some of the porkers weighed 800 pounds!

A few years back I was bringing a group home from a mission trip in North Padre Island TX. It had been a great week of ‘Beach Reach’ & VBS as we helped with a new church start. Somewhere late in the night in West Texas I was talking with one of the guys driving trying to stay awake & help him stay awake. Suddenly a huge grey blur went across the highway in front of our van. Thought my eyes were playing tricks until a few seconds later we slammed into something massive. Turns out a herd of ‘farrow hogs’ (domestic hogs gone wild) were crossing the highway in front of us & one became so much bacon! We ran over the hog (around a 1000 pounds worth of pork belly!) & it tore out the gooseneck & jack of the trailer.

While you may like chowing down on a good thick pork chop, BLT or sausage, Jewish people wouldn’t touch it with a proverbial ten foot pole. As a matter of fact, any time pigs are mentioned in the bible it’s not in a good light! Case in point, when a 1000 demons were cast from a man they begged to be released into a herd of swine & then ran headlong into the sea. You might have heard the adage (straight from scripture) ‘don’t cast your pearls before swine.”

“A beautiful woman who rejects good sense is like a gold ring in a pig's snout.” Proverbs 11:22 HCSB

Have you ever really watched a pig? My brother-in-law used to raise pigs on his farm. When visiting I watched the pigs. Pretty nasty animals. The smell? MAN! They spend the whole day wallowing around in filth & eating anything dropped near their snout. Yep, I can see why they have a less than stellar reputation. I won’t even get into ‘pork barrel politics.’

I guess, unless you’re a pig farmer, you get that pigs are nasty, stinky creatures with little dietary discretion or upward mobility! They just do what they do: wallow in filth without any embarrassment or ambition in life. Sadly, many around settle for the same lifestyle: wallowing in filth & no spiritual ambition or insight. The Psalmist gives insight on how we really can rise out of the ‘mire.’
“The fear of the LORD is the beginning of wisdom; all who follow His instructions have good insight. His praise endures forever.” Psalms 111:10 HCSB

Dave Jackson-Campus Minister djackson@absc.org
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