But for those of us who have tasted the pig slop, I wonder why we did it. And then I don't wonder, because I know why: we wanted to be free.
Free from rules. Free from restraints. Free to behave as we please.
But JE#US says two very important things:
1) I am the truth (John 14:6)
2) The truth will set you free (John 8:32)
Outside of my bedroom window there is a ramshackle gathering of buildings, huddled together in the smog. On top of these buildings there are flat, gray roofs. And on these roofs (or at least on some of them) there are pigeon coops. In these coops there are sleek, shining pigeons, fattened by their attentive owners. The pigeon keepers release their flocks twice a day, and we enjoy standing at my window, watching the birds fly around and around the block high in the air, dipping and jagging as a group. And then, when they've had their fun, felt the wind, and tasted the day, they fly back to their cozy coops where they are fed, protected, and enjoyed.
Are these birds free? Hmmm. Well, they live in a cage, they fly in circles in a small area, and they eat only what they are fed. Does that sound free to you?
Of course any one of them, at any time, could fly away. The world might even praise her for it, saying she thinks for herself, keeps an open mind, grabs life by the horns. She won't be told what's what or how to! You go girl!
But what the world failed to tell her - what her keeper knew, as he watched her fly off into the smog - is that her newfound "freedom" will destroy her.
Out there the keeper can't protect her. He can't feed her. He can't love her. She will forage and starve. She will be pecked and gouged by those competing for the same meager stores. There will be no peace for her. She will sleep lightly and fitfully. She will long for those happy flights in circles, over her snug coop, under the watchful eye of her keeper, and in the company of her loyal companions.
Freedom?
Freedom, you say?
Freedom is knowing you aren't your own master, and you were never intended to be.
