Prodigal or Pig?

My granddaughters have a pet pig, and they named him Sunday. He sounds like a pig, he looks like a pig, and if he were given the choice, he would like to be back in the mud like a pig. That’s because a pig is a pig.

Jesus told a story in the gospel of Luke about a son who ran away from his father, went to a far country, and made a mess out of his life. But then he came to his senses and returned home, and his father welcomed him and forgave him. We call him the prodigal son. And a prodigal always will come back home to the Father.

So, are you a prodigal son or daughter, or are you a pig? I don’t mean that as an insult. You decide which one you will be.

The Bible tells us, “It would be better if they had never known the way to righteousness than to know it and then reject the command they were given to live a holy life. They prove the truth of this proverb: ‘A dog returns to its vomit.’ And another says, ‘A washed pig returns to the mud’” (2 Peter 2:21–22 NLT).

When people make professions of faith and then fall away, the question is not whether they lost their salvation. The question is this: Were they Christians to begin with?

You know whether you’re a believer by where you end up. If you end up returning to your commitment to Christ, it shows that you’re merely a prodigal. If you’re a prodigal, then you will want to come back to God.

But if you’re a pig, then you will go back to the way you were living before because you never believed.

You see, not everyone wants to change. God offers us forgiveness, but we have to be willing to do our part.