It has been a long time since I have hunted wild hogs. When I first was introduced to hunting with a Bow it was hunting wild hogs in Florida where I grew up. What I cherished about those hunting trips was the fun I had during those hunts. It was then that I got hooked on Bow Hunting and it was then that I realized what it was like to bring food from field to the table. Every fall the neighborhood men would get together and go hunting for hogs and we would harvest the hogs and then have a neighborhood hog roast the weekend following the hunt. It was a time where neighbor would interact with neighbor and no one would go away hungry.
As I look back on those childhood memories I count it a blessing to be able to hunt for my own food when given the chance. In fact I am trying to teach my children the value of hunting, harvesting, and eating meat that is fresh with no chemicals added. There is nothing like have a nice venison stake, wild turkey breast with all the fixings, or wild hog bacon smoked with maple flavoring. To be honest I would not have it any other way.
We can learn a life lesson when we look at wild hogs. How so you may ask? Well wild hogs are destructive to the environment that they call their home territory. Wild hogs when not keep in check grow rapidly in their population. Wild hogs are content with just wallowing in the mud in the heat of the day. So you ask what does this have to do with us. We see in the Word of God in Luke 15:11-32 that there is a young man who wanted his father’s inheritance so he could squander all his wealth to the point that he went to work in a pig farm where he longed for the very pods that he fed the pigs. Keep in mind working on a pig farm was a very degrading job for a person of the Jewish faith during this time. So let’s bring this to us for a moment. Before one comes to the saving knowledge of the Lord Jesus Christ we are like hogs wallowing in the mud. The Word of God tells us in Romans 3:23 “For all have sinned, and come short of the glory of God;”( KJV). This is the very condition we find ourselves in before the cleansing power of the Blood of Christ who makes us white as snow. Thanks be to the Lord that after we come into a personal relationship with the Lord Jesus Christ that we no longer have to wallow in the mud like wild hogs that aimlessly wonder the land with no other purpose but to destroy it but we can run life’s journey with the purpose of bringing glory and honor to the Lord Jesus Christ.
I am thankful that over 31 years ago that I was saved from a Devil’s hell by a Savior who loved me so much that He gave His life freely so that I might live eternally with Him. Thank God I am free from the wages of sin which is death but by His precious gift through Jesus Christ His Only Begotten Son I have the promise of eternal life.
The amazing part though is that it is not just my gift it can be yours to and it is so simple to gain all that one has to do is the following:
A= Admit that you are a sinner in need of God’s Amazing Grace
B= Believe (have Faith) in the Lord Jesus Christ that He was crucified for your sin, buried, rose again, and is coming again.
C= Confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord of your life
That is it. Once you do that you will see that the chains that once bound you are now broken asunder. I find it fitting to close this blog post with the music video entitled “Amazing Grace My Chains Are Gone” by Chris Tomlin from YouTube.
