Wallowing With The Pigs

“Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us in Christ with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places, even as He chose us in Him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and blameless before Him. In love He predestined us for adoption to Himself as sons through Jesus Christ, according to the purpose of His will.”

~Ephesians 1:3-5

Do you consider yourself “chosen” by God? It’s an overwhelming idea that the God of all Creation would look down at the billions of people on earth and choose me! But that’s what He did for each of us who follow Christ. The Lord of All hand picks each one of us no matter what our circumstances may be. No matter what kind of trouble we’ve been into, what sins we’ve committed, or what kind of blubbering mess we appear to be—we were hand-picked by the Lord. For me, that’s an awesome, awe-inspiring revelation.

“Put on then, as God's chosen ones, holy and beloved, compassionate hearts, kindness, humility, meekness, and patience, bearing with one another and, if one has a complaint against another, forgiving each other; as the Lord has forgiven you, so you also must forgive. And above all these put on love, which binds everything together in perfect harmony (Colossians 3:12-14).”

We are all chosen to be part of God’s grand plan, however, we still have a choice just like Adam and Eve in the Garden. God gave us free will because He wants us to give ourselves freely to Him, to His plan, and above all, to love Him in return. God loves us in our worst moments but it’s only in our best moments that we love Him. Once we accept that Christ is the only answer for our lives, we return God’s love, but it doesn’t end there. He expects us to not only love Him, but to love others—and not just other Christians. No, God expects us to love others in their worst moments, the way He loves us. It’s easy to love someone who loves us, but loving the unlovable, those still living in their sins, wallowing in the filth of this world—it gets a little more difficult.

I am reminded of the prodigal son who spent his inheritance on gambling, drinking, and wild living and then wound up wallowing with the pigs trying to feed himself on their slop. No matter what kind of life we’ve lived, until we accept Christ as our Savior, we are all wallowing with the pigs. Not one of us is better than another, the difference is, like the prodigal son, we came to our senses and took the hand Christ offers. It is then up to us to offer a hand to others. Love one another!

“And the son said to him, ‘Father, I have sinned against heaven and before you. I am no longer worthy to be called your son.’ But the father said to his servants, ‘Bring quickly the best robe, and put it on him, and put a ring on his hand, and shoes on his feet. And bring the fattened calf and kill it and let us eat and celebrate. For this my son was dead, and is alive again; he was lost, and is found.’ And they began to celebrate (Luke 15:21-24).”

Read Hebrews 7-9

©2018 Marie McGaha