Don’t Destroy What
Blesses
By Pastor Tony Butler
Not too long ago, a man traveling through
Eastern North Carolina got lost, and stopped by an old farmhouse to ask
directions. While standing at the door, his
eye captured the sight of a pig with a wooden leg. So he said to the old farmer “I don’t think
I’ve ever seen a pig with a wooden leg.
What happened to it?” “Well,”
said the farmer, “this is a truly remarkable animal. A few years back, it was rooting around under
the oak trees near the house, and discovered truffles. This new crop has brought us a tidy income, I
can assure you.” “Fascinating,” said the
visitor. “I never heard of truffles in
North Carolina, but – why does it have a wooden leg?” “Well,” said the farmer, “just last year, on
the north forty, the pig discovered oil, and the proceeds from that oil well
are going to make us set for life, including even being able to send all our
kids to college.” “A truly incredible
animal,” said the guy. “I am sure that
you are the envy of all your neighbors.
Why does he have a wooden leg?”
“About six months ago, the farmhouse caught on fire,” said the farmer,
“and this pig saved our lives. He rushed
upstairs, woke us all up, carried my baby daughter down the stairs by the hair,
and made sure we were all safe outside.”
“Wow!” said the visitor, “You are very fortunate, indeed, but I’m still
curious about the wooden leg.” “Oh,”
said the farmer, “if you have a pig that valuable, you don’t eat it all at
once.”
There are certain things that have made America
great, and prosperous, namely, faith in Jesus Christ, strong nuclear families,
a strong work ethic, charitable giving, self-sacrifice, a sense of personal
responsibility, and love of freedom.
All of these things still exist in this great land of ours to some
extent, but at the same time, the very things that made this country great are
being slowly destroyed by its own people.
Our country seems to fulfill the Apostle Paul’s prophecy of the last days,
just before the coming of the Lord Jesus Christ.
“This I know also, that in the last days
perilous times shall come. For men shall
be lovers of their own selves, covetous, boasters, proud, blasphemers,
disobedient to parents, unthankful, unholy, without natural affection,
trucebreakers, false accusers, incontinent, fierce, despisers of those that are
good, false, traitors, heady, high minded, lovers of pleasures more than lovers
of God; having a form of godliness, but denying the power thereof: from such
turn away.” II Timothy 3:105.
Rather than turning away, God’s people often
have grasped after the lifestyle of the unsaved, seeking fulfillment in
pleasures, instead of God, Himself.
Israel was guilty of this kind of apostasy. They turned away from God from Whom all their
blessings came. The Lord made a
declaration concerning the sins of His people through Jeremiah the
prophet. “For My people have committed
two evils; they have forsaken Me, the Fountain of living waters, (and) have
hewed them out cisterns (ancient water tanks in the ground, cut out of rock),
broken cisterns that can hold no water.” Jeremiah 2:13. Basically, he is telling Israel that they
have forsaken the very thing that had made them great. As the result, Israel was conquered by her
enemies, and experienced great chastisement.
In their day, many mocked when the warnings came just as some of you
will mock and disbelieve that judgment will come to America. I leave you with the Word of God to America
and to Prattville. Don’t sin against the
One Who wants to save and bless. Draw
near to Him, and embrace Him. He will
not turn you away.
Proverbs 14:34
“Righteousness exalts a
nation, But sin is a disgrace to any people.”
“The heathen are sunk
down in the put (that) they made: in the
net which they hid is their own foot taken.
The LORD is known (by) the judgment (which) he executeth: the wicked is
snared in the work of his own hands.
Higgaion. Selah. The wicked shall be turned into hell, and all
the nations that forget God. For
the needy shall not always be forgotten: the expectation of the poor shall
(not) perish forever. Arise, O LORD; let
not man prevail: let the heathen be judged in Thy sight.” Psalms 9:15-19