I know...it’s crazy that the one person who can’t sit still (see photo) will be writing these November devotions, but stick with me...I’ll try :)
The game of ‘pigs’ is going to sound very strange...but, when my sister and I were kids, we were quite imaginative. We created our own game called, you guess it...pigs. It's not at all what you think...it all started one Saturday at the bank, when the sweet teller gave us each a small plastic piggy bank. That sunny spring morning we left carrying the gift of...a plastic pig. Hence, the game of 'pigs' was about to begin.
When we got home we decided since we each had a pig we would hide the pigs from each other...kind of a 'pig' hide and seek. We lived in a big old house in highland park and there was unlimited hiding places. Over the next few weeks the game of 'pigs' developed from hide and seek to 'detective pigs'...I told you we were very creative. We each got small tablets of paper and after we hid our pigs...we would write down small clues as to where the pig was hidden. So now...we had clues to find, and detective logs to write our clues in, before finding the pigs. We spent hours playing with those plastic pigs. The winner, of course, was whoever found the pig first. From the age of about 8 to 10 that was probably one of our favorite games...a game with plastic pigs.
Seriously...while we don't like to admit it...as humans, we’re all sinners and kind of like 'plastic pigs'. Like pigs, sometimes we like to live in the muck and yuck. And...like the game 'detective pigs'...we like to think we can hide from God, who doesn't need any scrap of paper with a clue...He sees it all. Everything is laid bare before the Lord...He sees and seeks 'hiding plastic pigs' over all the earth...not just in an old house in Highland Park.
In our game of 'pigs' when my sister or I found the pig...we shouted 'winner'...when God finds a pig (yes, that's us)...we become the winner. My sister and I didn't stop the game (although sometimes a dinner break was required) until one of us found the 'pig'...BUT GOD never stops seeking us (no dinner break required) until He finds us.
He too leaves clues for us to find Him...no matter where we try and hide...He's trying to seek us. Unlike the game of 'pigs' where we hid our clues....He wants to be found!!!! He leaves His clues right out in the open...laughter...sunsets...spring days...snow...oceans...mountains...stars...His clues don't say 'Come find Me', they say, 'Here I am!"
We made up our own rules, but He left us a full book of instructions to avoid life as 'plastic pigs'...the Bible. My sister and I could eventually find the pigs...but they were, and always remained, pigs. God has the power to take human 'plastic pigs' and make them into something so beautiful...His very own children. When we find God...we are the winners.
In our game of pigs, the plastic pigs received nothing from my sister and me, but when we find God...
we receive...
...His unconditional love...peace, restoration, healing, grace, mercy, forgiveness...His son...eternal salvation. The list is endless of how God lavishes all these gifts on those who find and love Him.
God's love can take even the most 'plastic' pig...and make it something beautiful with a heart of love and compassion. My sister and I only saw a plastic pig...when God sees us...no matter what....
...no matter what we've done...
...He sees His child hiding...
...from His perfect love. His perfect forgiveness. His perfect grace. His perfect mercy. His perfect plan.
Who knew all those years ago playing 'pigs' that I would discover the real 'plastic pig'...was me.
I only needed to see God's clues....and believe in His son...to be found...
...by Him.
Rejoice today if you, like me, are a redeemed sinner. If you're no longer...a 'plastic pig'. Pray fervently for those you know who are still 'hiding'. Lovingly share your clues with the way to the savior. Rejoice when even one 'plastic pig'...becomes a child of God, leaving behind their life of hiding to step into the life of a redeemed, saved-by-grace child of God. It’s ok if you shout Amen here :)
The childhood plastic pig is long gone, but the love of a real savior has never...and will never, leave. That piggy bank never contained a penny...but, what a rich lesson it held.
Don't be fooled by the plastic of this life...there's so much more to be found in a very real God, whose ALWAYS in control...no matter what. We can trust Him.
Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation. The old has passed away; behold, the new has come. 2 Corinthians 5:17.
