One of my favorites - And We Were Slingin'

There, undisciplined and dissipated, he wasted everything he had. After he had gone through all his money, there was a bad famine all through that country and he began to hurt. He signed on with a citizen there who assigned him to his fields to slop the pigs. He was so hungry he would have eaten the corncobs in the pig slop, but no one would give him any.

Luke 15:13-16 The Message

When we think of mud-slinging, we usually think politics. Who can find the dirt - who can sling it with the most effect. It gets ugly real fast - to the point that people are driven away from the political arena because they don't want to hear the trash. And it would seem logical to me that those who want to sling the mud don't want me to look at them too closely which is part of the ploy. If I'm busy looking at the mud, I might miss the obvious about the mud slinger...which could be worse than the mud slingee. Slinger wants to make himself look good by making Slingee look bad.

When I was a kid, I remember one time seeing someone slinging mud at the back of his car. I couldn’t figure out what he was doing, so I wandered closer and asked. He told me the tags were out on the car and he didn’t have the money to get them renewed so he was covering up the sticker with a little mud, but wanted to make it look as “natural” as possible. "That way, I don't look like a lawbreaker, I just look like someone who doesn't wash his car." I'm sure I don't need to tell anyone all the reasons that was wrong...I can't even go there, but it's typical of a compromised life.

We run into those same kinds of people who have known who Christ is, who have walked with Him but then have decided - for whatever reason - that they want to live their life the way THEY want to. So they start justifying. Slinging mud...that way they don't look so bad when compared to the mud. We need to pray that - like the prodigal son - they will wake up to the Truth that they are living in the equivalent of pig slop and waste. After all...a pigsty is a great place for finding mud to sling.

But God has called us to be holy. To be pure and undefiled. Christ is coming back for a church without spot or wrinkle. You CAN get there  - even if you come from a pigsty. Come out and sling off that mud.

Prayer:

Father,
           Thank You for Your Word that instructs us in detail regarding our walk with You. Write Your instructions on our hearts. Let any mud in our lives be only what is used to heal blinded eyes. In Jesus' Name we pray. Amen