My husband and I are not pet people. We are surrounded by friends who love their dogs and cats and still can’t understand why we wouldn’t purchase some kind of pet to have in our family. My response is always simple – “If I am going to get a pet, it is going to be something wild and exotic.” At first thought, a giraffe or an elephant would be an extremely exotic, but also extremely impractical. The other day Greg and I were joking about different pets we could get and I immediately thought of the teacup pig! Have you ever seen one? They are teeny tiny pigs that fit in a teacup. Adorable to say the least!
Greg laughed at me like I was crazy, but out of curiosity sake I began to do my research as if I truly was going to buy one of these little piggies. What I read shocked me! For starters, an average teacup pig starts at $1,500. There are farmers who breed these little piggies to sell to you at an outrageous price. But not only that, they don’t tell you that within a few months, that little piggie won’t continue to be tiny. Teacup pigs are truly just newborn pigs that grow into 40-50 pound adults. Can you imagine the shock of buying one of these little guys only to see him grow into a large farm animal? In a way I felt hurt. I had believed for so long that these teacup pigs existed. I was fooled by marketers and adorable pictures.
We are a people who are easily fooled into believing a lie. Satan thrives on making little “teacup pigs” out of our sin. He convinces us of a different gospel, a self-centered life, and the pursuit of happiness over the pursuit of God through false images and messages. I would still believe there are tiny pigs roaming the earth had I not learned the full truth by research. This may seem like a silly story, but the ramifications run throughout our spiritual walks.
Determining what it true from what is false has become a daily fight our souls must prepare for. We simply cannot take what we hear and read as fact without first going to the Word of God and testing it. Now there are more platforms for us to hear what sounds like truth and be swayed to believe another gospel. Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, blogs, magazines, TV programs, books on books on books. People have the freedom to put out information in whatever format they wish for the world to read. As followers of Jesus, we must align every single thing that we hear with the Word of God.
The gospel saves us from our sin. It is the beautiful redemptive truth that Christ was born in human flesh, lived a sinless life, died an excruciating death on the cross – taking our rightful place and receiving the wrath of God for us, rising again on the third day and defeating death so that we may have a relationship with the Father. This gospel isn’t just a simple story in the Bible to tickle our ears. It is our life. It is our hope. It is our salvation.
Everyday we hear varying accounts of the gospel. We hear that if you come to Christ you will evade all suffering and live an easy life. Christ tells us that to follow Him will require suffering and dying to ourself, and in some cases martyrdom (dying for our faith in Jesus). “And whoever does not take up his cross and follow me is not worthy of me. Whoever finds his life will lose it, and whoever loses his life for my sake will find it.” (Matthew 10:38-39) The world tells us that if we give our tithe we will never have want. Christ tells us that we aren’t promised riches on this earth, but that we should store up treasure in Heaven that does not perish. “Do not lay up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust destroy and where thieves break in and steal, but lay up for yourselves treasures in heave, where neither moth nor rust destroys and where thieves do not break in and steal.” (Matthew 6:19-20)
Just like the teacup pig, we easily believe lies when we aren’t searching for the truth. We must daily come before the Lord and eat His Word. 1 Thessalonians 5:21 tells us to “test everything; hold fast to what is good.” We must store up truth in our heart, treasure it, and believe it with every fiber of our being to be able to test and approve what we hear and read that is the true gospel or a manmade gospel. I want to know Jesus and I want to treasure the gospel that saved my soul from death. I want to honor Him and live a life that is worthy of the gospel. But in order to do that, I must meet Him in His Word and order my entire life around it instead of the words of man.
May we know the truth of God’s Word so we can discern the lies of the enemy. God’s Word is alive, active, and never fails. Let us meet Him in the truth each day, eat it up, and share it with our lives and with our mouths.
for the gospel, for Jesus,
Gretchen
Gretchen love this! Actually I was just thinking about how how our actions are based off of a truth or a lie. We need the Word to figure out which one is which. I will probably email you what I discovered in my quiet time this past week, if that’s okay with you!
Gretchen love this! Actually I was just thinking about how how our actions are based off of a truth or a lie. We need the Word to figure out which one is which. I will probably email you what I discovered in my quiet time this past week, if that’s okay with you!
This is such a brilliant comparison, because I, too am hurt in hearing that teacup pigs are just baby pigs! 🙁 I so want them to be real! But that’s exactly what the devil does… He tries to make you feel like you need it. So thankful for Jesus, and I know that he is stronger!!! x
This is such a brilliant comparison, because I, too am hurt in hearing that teacup pigs are just baby pigs! 🙁 I so want them to be real! But that’s exactly what the devil does… He tries to make you feel like you need it. So thankful for Jesus, and I know that he is stronger!!! x
Lovely analogy, Gretchen! There are so many little deceptions and distractions out there and it can be so easy to fall under their influence if we don’t remain grounded in the truth of God’s word. Thank you for this reminder.
Lovely analogy, Gretchen! There are so many little deceptions and distractions out there and it can be so easy to fall under their influence if we don’t remain grounded in the truth of God’s word. Thank you for this reminder.
Move that piggy into a ten gallon fish tank. A tea-cup is far too small! But no, in all seriousness, God’s goal in the believers life is to make him or her like Jesus. To make us full of faith. He knows that we lean on the things of this world more than we lean on him, so often, through suffering, he teaches us to rely on God alone. There is no joy, contentment, and satisfaction like it.