Shortly after we arrived in Mexico City, we heard the loud, unmistakable squealing of a hog. To hear such a sound in the city near a very busy corner was startling. It certainly got our attention, and we were curious enough to investigate. Sure enough, a good-sized hog was being pushed and pulled by two men who were trying to make the animal go where it did not want to go. One man held the rope tied around the hog’s neck, and he was pulling. The other man had the hog by the tail and was pushing from behind. Part of the time the hog’s feet were sliding along the concrete. And that hog was protesting with squeals that could be heard a great distance away.
This squealing hog did not know it was being taken to the slaughterhouse. It just did not want to go anywhere! There is a verse in the Bible that speaks of a lamb being led to the slaughter (Isaiah 53:77He was oppressed, and he was afflicted, yet he opened not his mouth: he is brought as a lamb to the slaughter, and as a sheep before her shearers is dumb, so he openeth not his mouth. (Isaiah 53:7)). There is no way anyone could say this hog was being led, or even driven, to the slaughter. It was indeed being taken to a nearby slaughterhouse, but it was being dragged - forced against its will.
Do you think you and I could ever be compared to that hog? The Bible tells us the hog is an unclean animal. That simply means it was one of the animals that could not be used for food for the children of Israel. One way we can be compared to that hog is that the Bible states that because of our sins “we are all as an unclean thing” (Isaiah 64:66But we are all as an unclean thing, and all our righteousnesses are as filthy rags; and we all do fade as a leaf; and our iniquities, like the wind, have taken us away. (Isaiah 64:6)).
And there are also other ways in which we are like the hog. This animal had a very strong will not to do what those men wanted it to do. Another verse in the Bible tells us that “we have turned every one to his own way” (Isaiah 53:66All we like sheep have gone astray; we have turned every one to his own way; and the Lord hath laid on him the iniquity of us all. (Isaiah 53:6)). We have all done things we wanted to do, even though we knew they were wrong or disobedient. There’s that strong will, just like that squealing hog.
Now, what about that rope that was tied around the hog’s neck? If we have not yet trusted the Lord Jesus as our Saviour, we are tied by a very strong rope of sin, and Satan is holding the other end of that rope! And remember the one man pushing the hog from behind? Our friends sometimes push us to do something with them that we really may not have wanted to do. Friends can also convince us not to come to the Lord Jesus for salvation. Because “the wages of sin is death” (Romans 6:2323For the wages of sin is death; but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord. (Romans 6:23)), unless we accept the forgiveness for our sins that the Lord Jesus is offering, we are just as sure to perish as the hog was to be slaughtered.
Well, we certainly are an awful lot like that squealing hog headed for the slaughterhouse, aren’t we? But we don’t have to stay that way. Because God is a God of love, He does not want any one of us to perish. We do not have to continue on a path that will cause us to end up in the slaughterhouse (hell) like the hog in this story. The Bible says, “The Father sent the Son to be the Saviour of the world” (1 John 4:1414And we have seen and do testify that the Father sent the Son to be the Saviour of the world. (1 John 4:14)). In order for the Son, the Lord Jesus Christ, to be the Saviour of sinners, He had to die. He had to pay to God the debt for the sins of each person who comes to Him for forgiveness. He paid the debt on the cross that fulfilled God’s requirements for those sins.
The Lord Jesus loves you and wants to take off that rope of sin and have you begin your happy journey to heaven. Will you come to the Lord Jesus today for forgiveness of your debt of sins? “Boast not thyself of tomorrow; for thou knowest not what a day may bring forth” (Proverbs 27:11Boast not thyself of to morrow; for thou knowest not what a day may bring forth. (Proverbs 27:1)).
ML-01/23/2000