"Take heed to yourselves, that your heart be not deceived, and ye turn aside, and serve other gods" (Deut. 11:16).
Wild pigs have a variety of names, such as boars, razorbacks, or just plain hogs or pigs. They were not always wild. Years ago some escaped from their farm homes and easily adapted to living in the wild.
There were no pigs in Hawaii until someone imported a number of tame ones. Some of them escaped into the nearby beautiful forests and shorelines. Today they are Hawaii's worst pest, among other things, destroying beautiful tree ferns by gnawing into the stems for food. Another plant they love to eat is the banana-poke, the seeds of which they spread around, making it also a problem, because it chokes out other pretty plants.
Both California and North Carolina have thousands of these black, fat, short-legged animals with ugly pointed snouts and bare tails. Many other North American areas have similar problems with them, all resulting from the importing of tame pigs years ago, without realizing some of them would soon go wild. Hunters shoot them by the thousands. But it is impossible to keep ahead of them since the mother pigs give birth to about six babies twice a year. These soon grow up and do the same thing.
They feed on acorns, hazelnuts, chestnuts and berries, among other things, hoggishly depriving many birds, deer, bears and other wild creatures of what they need. Another disadvantage is that they do not hibernate in the winter, but rain, snow and freezing weather seem to make them hungrier. With part of their regular food not available, they strip bark off many trees, looking for hidden insects. This results in ruining some forested areas.
As if these traits are not bad enough, they love to change a forest pond or part of a shallow stream into a filthy mud hole in which they wallow and get covered with mud. These areas soon become terribly smelly with all the filth involved. This attracts flies and other insects that carry some of the disease-laden filth to farmyards, as well as homes and public parks, harming not only farm animals and birds, but people as well.
These vicious, unpleasant beasts are an example of what sin has brought into the world, for when God created them they were not this way. This reminds us that Satan tempted Adam and Eve to sin against God, and Satan is still trying to keep people from responding to God's love (as our opening Bible verse warns us).
A loving God wants us to turn from sinful ways and look to His beloved Son, the Lord Jesus Christ, who died on Calvary's cross for all who will come to Him. The Bible tells this, saying: "If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness [evil]" (1 John 1:9). Have you done this?