“There is a classic story about how no one had been able to capture a herd of wild hogs that was rooting up crops from numerous farms. It got so bad that rewards had been posted for anyone clever enough to corral the critters. But even this resulted in only limited success. One day a stranger (who was a wily old trapper) came into town and — entering the general store — ordered a truckload of fence posts and fencing, along with some feed. When asked what he was going to use it for, he said, “I’m going to get those wild hogs y’all are having trouble with.” Of course, everyone in the store laughed at the overconfident stranger. A few weeks later, however, the stranger rode into town with the back of his truck tightly packed with the smelly swine.” Mr. Baldwin goes on to tell how the trapper slowly but surely fenced in the wild hogs where they could no longer escape. He then compares what the trapper did to what our government is presently doing to its citizens, slowly but surely taking away our freedoms, one by one under the guise of “security” or “safety” or “protection.”
Dear reader, as long as we depend on Big Brother [government] to take care of us instead of the God of heaven, we will one day find ourselves like those wild hogs in the above story — penned in and unable to get out — with all our freedoms gone. Mr. Baldwin then comes to this conclusion about America: “America doesn’t need to worry about terrorist attacks from Baghdad or Tehran as much as we should worry about the terrorism from Big Brother — brought about with our own approbation — right here at home.” Mr. Baldwin then asks this soul-searching question: “When are we going to decide that we want to live in FREEDOM?”
The answer to Mr. Baldwin’s question is this: True freedom demands individual responsibility. As Americans, when we decide to once again allow God to govern every facet of our everyday living instead of a godless government; when we decide to make application of the moral principles found within the pages of Holy Writ [the Bible]; and when we decide to once again be responsible people before the God of heaven (cf. 2 Chronicles 7:14; Isaiah 1:1-20) — only then, will we have decided that we truly want to live in freedom — not one moment before. Let us pray that we as Americans, will soon “wake up” (Romans 13:11-14), asking God’s forgiveness for our sins (2 Chronicles 7:14; 1 John 1:5-9), asking Him for wisdom and guidance (James 1:5-6; Proverbs 3:5-6), and then be responsible for our thoughts and actions toward God and our fellow man (2 Corinthians 10:3-5; Matthew 22:37-40). Only then, will we truly be a free people (cf. John 8:12-36) — “one nation under God” (cf. 2 Chronicles 7:14; Ezekiel 37:20-28).
—Mike Riley, Gospel Snippets
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