By: Zach Collins
Let me tell you a story. A little lamb and his mother passed by the pig pen one day on their way to the pasture. The lamb looked longingly at the pigs who wallowed in the mire, and he asked his mother, “Can I go and play in the mud?” His mother responded, “No, sheep don’t wallow.”
The little lamb understood the sentiment of his mother’s statement, but as he looked at the pigs in the mud, it looked like so much fun! He thought the cool mud would be a relief on a hot day.
One day, when the little lamb grew older, the mother allowed the little lamb to go ahead of her toward the sheepfold. But, in defiance, he chose to jump the fence into the pig pen. The cool mud began to cover his ankles and provide him with relief. So, he went a little deeper. Eventually, it reached his belly, and he was soaking in the pleasure of the mud.
But, as you know, wool and mud do not mix. The mud began to cake on his wool, and he got stuck. His pleasure had become his prison. So, he cried for help and the shepherd heard him, rescued him, and sent him back into the pasture.
When he finally came to his mother, his mother said, “Sheep do not wallow.”
The little lamb sacrificed the blessings of being a sheep for a moment of pleasure and it led to a prison that he could not escape alone. The mud might look appealing, but it traps, addicts, and enslaves those who are enticed by the passing pleasures of sin. And, without the Shepherd, you will never be able to escape the prison of sin that has entrapped your distracted soul.
Let me leave you with the words of Peter, in 2 Peter 2:20-22, “For if, after they have escaped the pollutions of the world through the knowledge of the Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, they are again entangled in them and overcome, the latter end is worse for them than the beginning. For it would have been better for them not to have known the way of righteousness, than having known it, to turn from the holy commandment delivered to them. But it has happened to them according to the true proverb: “A dog returns to his own vomit,” and, “a sow, having washed, to her wallowing in the mire.”
Meditate on these things.