Parable of a New Creature in the Making
June 20, 2023 9:31:39 PM
SARAH
Given 6/20 morning
A baby pig named Could-Be-Me was born into the mud. (Mud represents sin and things of the world. We are all born into a sinful world. Most of us learn to be friends with the world, that this is how life is.)
Baby swine (who are not taught Word) are taught that the mud is all that there is, there is no escape from the pig-pen, so indulge in all the mud you want. (Eat, drink, be merry -with no TRUE knowledge of God and His ways. From childhood, we are taught that the mud is GOOD, most of us are taught that our only purpose for existing is to love our swine-self more than anything, that self-sacrificial love is for the weak who we should bully.)
Could-Be-Me grew up loving the mud, just like he was taught to do. It was easy to love, and there was plenty of it around. Everyone that Could-Be-Me knew enjoyed the mud too. Most did not even acknowledge The One Who Made them, their Maker. Unless something didn’t go as they wanted, then they cursed their Maker, it felt good to do so (…so how could it be wrong if it feels good? Leaning on own understanding, carnal self-feelings, a fool does not give God credit but curses.)
Today, Could-Be-Me was in his area of the pig-pen, laughing as the sun came out after the morning rain had finished. (Merciful God rains on the just and the unjust.) Could-Be-Me splashed around in the mud-puddles, how fun! He didn’t care that some of his mud splashed onto some other swine who were nearby. He made a lot of happy noises, feeling pretty special today, because of his very special mud-puddle made by the rain mixing with the dirt. He rolled in it for a while, then he made a nice pile of mud and shaped it into a sloppy, pig-shape that looked kinda like his mother. “She will LOVE this,” Could-Be-Me thought to himself. He stared at what he created, and he felt so proud of himself. “I’m something special. Better than those non-talented pigs.” Could-Be-Me did not hinder the compliments of his pen-fellows. In fact, he let their praise for his ‘talent’ make his heart swell with pride. He felt really good about himself. Even his mother praised him for being so creative and intelligent. Could-Be-Me believed these words as truth, for he did not know that there was another Truth. He felt great.
Could-Be-Me paraded around in the mud, sloshing some of it everywhere, even into his eyes and mouth. He did not mind the sour taste, that was just how mud was. He reveled in his self-wonderfulness, giving all credit to himself. He wiped the mud off his eyes but things were still a little bit blurry.
Could-Be-Me walked over to the water bucket to wash the mud out of his eyes, and he heard something strange. The bleating of sheep. He quickly rinsed his eyes with the muddy water, and looked between the boards of the pig-pen fence. Across a field, he saw some sheep out in the open pastures, resting beside the still waters, led by a Shepherd Who was speaking kindly to them, telling them not to be afraid. Could-Be-Me strained to hear what The Shepherd was saying – He was reminding the sheep about how He had purchased them, and they know His Voice. He also reminded them of the testimony that He had given them: The Shepherd had protected the sheep from a pack of wolves who wanted to devour them just a few days ago. Could-Be-Me was taken aback by what he heard. The Voice of this Shepherd seemed to be calling right to the little pig.
“Those sheep,” Could-Be-Me marveled, “don’t need to roll in the mud to fend off the flies (fiery darts of the enemy)… they don’t seem to make effort at all to protect themselves, provide for themselves…they jump and play and their Shepherd laughs with them…looks kinda great over there. Hmm.”
Could-Be-Me’s father waddled over to stand by the fence next to him. “Yeah,” Could-Be-Me’s father sighed, “I remember how my dad’s cousin, Flesh, had seen those sheep with their Shepherd once. Well, Flesh had gotten it into his mind that he wanted to get over there so he could talk to that Shepherd.”
“What happened?” said Could-Be-Me, interested.
“He made it out of this pigsty and never came back. Probably eaten by wolves on his way over there. I wouldn’t get any such ideas into your head, son. Come, let’s go banquet ourselves on the food scraps that were just thrown to us.”
Could-be-me had no reason to doubt his father, and yet, there was a small tug at his heart to keep looking toward this Shepherd and his sheep. The sheep seemed to have something INSIDE of them that just caused them to glow with joy. He kept watching the sheep as his father let out a grunt and ran to eat some food scraps that lay all over the mud.
Suddenly, as Could-Be-Me watched the sheep, The Shepherd looked over – RIGHT AT HIM! Could-Be-Me felt embarrassed for some reason, yet The Shepherd’s eyes were kind. The Shepherd kept his eyes locked on Could-Be-Me’s, and gestured for Could-Be-Me to come to Him. The Shepherd smiled with so much love that it drew Could-Be-Me’s heart. He pressed his mud-covered snout into the fence. His first thought was, “I can’t.” and yet… there was something so REAL about this Shepherd. Could-Be-Me decided that he needed to know more. “I want to know You,” Could-Be-Me whispered. He was sure that the Shepherd could not hear him. Besides, there was no way to get out of this pig-pen. Then again, his dad’s cousin had found a way out. Could-Be-Me searched around the pig-pen to try to find an opening. Mud splashed on him as his friends called to him. “Hey, come join us in this hot, stinky mud bath!” Could-Be-Me was tempted, and told his friends that he needed to do something first. He was on a mission. The mud-splashing swine laughed at him and carried on in their love of the mud.
Could-Be-Me could not find a way out of the pigsty. He looked out at The Shepherd, Who had prepared a table before His sheep. It was the most beautiful table and food that Could-Be-Me had ever seen!! So much food, and the cups were overflowing!! Could-Be-Me’s throat let out a whine. The Shepherd looked across the field at Could-Be-Me and smiled, and beckoned as He had done earlier. “I can’t get out of this pigsty on my own! Would You help me?” Could-Be-Me whispered, thinking that The Shepherd was too far away to hear him. Then a slight breeze crossed over his snout. In his heart he heard, “My Word is a lamp unto your feet, a light unto your path.”
Amazingly, a thin beam of light came out of the sky and shone on a corner of the pig-pen gate. Could-Be-Me ran over to it, looking back at his friends as he ran. They didn’t even notice him in all the excitement of their mud-slinging games. As soon as Could-Be-Me drew near, the gate opened just enough to allow him to exit the pig-pen. The gate shut itself after he was out.
Could-Be-Me remembered his father’s words regarding his cousin, and he felt fear creep into him. But this Shepherd’s kindness and the table filled with beautiful food caused him to walk toward the sheep gathering. As he walked, he watched how the sheep preferred other sheep over themselves and gave up their space at the table for other sheep. The sheep shared what they had and seemed to love and care about each other. “What IS this strange way?” Could-Be-Me marveled. He heard himself laugh, and a hope that he’d never known filled his heart. He started to walk faster.
“Hey, Could-Be-Me! Get back here, it is not safe out there!” Could-Be-Me heard a group of self-righteous Swine (Satan’s children) rise up in their prideful anger against him. How DARE he leave the pigsty? You see, there is a measure of protection in the pig-pen. Wolves can’t get through the walls of the pen, or so the swine thought. But because the swine love the mud, they were blinded by it. They did not see that some swine were, in fact, demons pretending to be swine. These had the job of making sure that no swine ever left the mud-pit.
Could-Be-Me stopped walking and turned his attention away from the sheep who were now dining with their Shepherd. The Hypocrite Swine Council members gathered together by the fence inside of the pig-pen. One member of the Swine Council, (who looked so religious, as though he had authority from his self-worshipping pride), pointed his angry snout at Swine and spoke words meant to shame and condemn Could-Be-Me for walking away from what he grew up with, his FAMILY, all that he knew.
A swine named Greed, the wealthiest swine, attempted to compel Could-Be-Me to come back into the pig-pen. He told Could-Be-Me that he would teach him how to be a successful pig-pen swine, like himself. Could-Be-Me stopped in his tracks and looked back at the shiny gold nose-ring that Greed proudly wore. It DID look nice.
A swine called LIAR whispered sweet nothings to swine. False Doctrine worked hard to keep his rage at bay as he explained all the pig-pen mud doctrines to Could-Be-Me again. Deception chimed in.
“Come on, Could-Be-Me, ALL these other pigs in here can’t be wrong.” (Could-Be-Me did not know about the narrow road in Word.) “What your parents taught you can’t be wrong, look at your brothers and sisters – and even your wife and children…they are all loving the mud and we all think you are crazy for leaving this great place.” Blinded-by-sin, all the swine try to convince Could-Be-Me to come back.
You see, the fact that Could-Be-Me sought God had caused the other pigs to feel uncomfortable for a moment. Some thought, “What if this mud WILL lead to my death as I have heard rumors of?” The discomfort came from inside of each one of them, Maker was tapping on their heart. Instead of accepting that the mud could be actually harmful to them, the whole pen of pigs decided that it was Could-Be-Me’s fault that they felt discomfort. How DARE Could-Be-Me leave their traditions, handed down by other mud-loving swine who had twisted God’s Word? The pigs all began to mock Could-Be-Me. “Ha! You can’t enjoy this mud anymore cuz you’re a square!” They shouted, and, “You’re gonna get eaten by wolves out there!” also, “You are mentally ill to leave this fun place!”
Up in Heaven, The Maker of the sheep and the swine watched it all, saddened that the blinded-by-sin pigs thought that the mud was good. If they would just seek Me… “If they would humble themselves and believe that My Word really IS MY WORD: TRUTH, all of the swine would see that their life of sin leads to death.” Maker watched to see what Could-Be-Me would do. He tugged on Could-Be-Me’s heart.
Could-Be-Me was conflicted. All of the mud-caked, penned-in swine were doing their best to get Could-Be-Me back into sin so that they would not feel uncomfortable in their own sin. They actually didn’t care about Could-Be-Me, they cared only for their SELF-loving selves, just as all who love the mud do, for mud blinds like this.
Could-Be-Me became distressed. “I KNOW that I am free now, I smell the flowers, I feel the grass under my hooves – and it is cooler than the mud that I used to love splashing all over myself. But do I have to give up everything I grew up with/was born into?” He pondered while he hesitated.
In His abundant, never-ending lovingkindness, Maker spoke to Could-Be-Me’s heart. “I AM The Only Way. Choose to believe on Me.” Could-Be-Me decided to ignore the jeering behind him and his own feelings of betrayal by his own family. He decided that he really had nothing to lose, so he completed crossing the field and was welcomed by The Good Shepherd and his sheep.
The love was something that Could-Be-Me had never known before. The Good Shepherd had all of the sheep sit at His feet. Could-Be-Me did the same. The Shepherd spoke Words of Life, and Could-Be-Me realized how the mud of sin had caused him to be unable to see Truth before, and that The Good Shepherd WAS Truth. Could-Be-Me gained faith by the hearing of Word and his blindness fell off of his eyes. He realized just how dirty and stinky he was compared to the sheep. He repented of ever loving the mud, even a drop of it. He saw the lies that he had been told since his birth, and he rejected them and accepted Truth. His Maker saved and redeemed his soul that day!
Could-Be-Me felt a joy that he had never known in the pigsty. And this was only the beginning of the good things that The Good Shepherd had for him. As he worshipped his Maker, Holy Spirit filled his clean heart. Could-Be-Me transformed into a new creature in Christ Jesus! Suddenly, he had become a SHEEP! It was no longer Could-Be-Me that lived but Christ Jesus, Father God, Holy Spirit, Who made Their Abode in him!
The Good Shepherd told Could-Be-Me that his new name was now Whiter-Than-Snow. The new creature bleated his praise to Jesus, Who draws near to anyone who sincerely draws near to Him!
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The God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob…your Maker, calls YOU to leave the mud-puddles:
Don’t let your faith shrivel up because of the sun on the rocky soil. You WILL be persecuted for knowing Me, just as they persecuted Me.
Don’t let your faith be choked to death by the thorns in the pig-pen that look good, the pleasures you used to enjoy. I BOUGHT you, you are Mine…are you willing to remain in My Kindness, enduring by abiding in Me til the end? I give you the choice. If you seek Me, I will help you. I have much to teach you, but you must resist the enemy calling you back into sin. If you love Me, Jesus, and call Me your Lord, obey My Word. Let me make My abode in you, My Holy Spirit will teach you, comfort you, bear fruit in any who will remain and abide and obey Me!
You KNOW you are free in Me. I have much to teach you, to prune away what damage the mud of sin has done to you. You are a new creature now as you obey Me, I will live IN YOU. But your SELF must not be honored…leave the mud of blinding sin behind.
I have gifts, and fruit, and I alone am The Good Shepherd. I have promises, healing, beauty for ashes, etc. but you must submit to Me, and resist these demonic Swine tempting you to stumble in your faith. I will help you, but I give you this choice to seek Me or to ignore Me. If you ignore Me, what wisdom or understanding will you have? Only that of those who are in the pig-pen, accusing you and persecuting you. I warn you to not choose to join again with them in sin. Run away from these lying mud-lovers and run to Me, I can cause you to walk on The Way of Holiness with Me. But the choice is yours, I will not force someone to love Me and My Word.
What will YOU choose? Will you listen to the mud-lovers and choose to believe that ‘just a little’ mud is okay, (even though God’s Word says that sin blinds us and separates us from Him). The religious swine tell you that you don’t REALLY need to abide in Jesus The Vine… or see that His Word is also your Daily Bread by which you have life.
Note: As this world goes crazy, as in the days of Noah, you will see and hear things…keep your eyes and ears on The Good Shepherd (walk by faith!) and He WILL lead you…focus on HIM, not the calamity and death all around you. Feel free, if you are so inclined, to copy this parable… and if God wants you to, share it, witness with it, change it (as long as it glorifies God and does not counter Word)… The Good Shepherd, Jesus Christ who came in the flesh to pay for your sins and LIVE IN us, will make us holy, perfect, and sinless…but we have to ask, seek, knock, obey His Word that is HOLY and not mere suggestions to be taken lightly. I am praying for all of the sheep, and for all of those who will become Jesus’ sheep in these last days! Maranatha Lord Jesus! Praise You YAH!!
Photos courtesy Depositphotos
