Chicken or Pig

On a beautiful, but quite warm Sunday afternoon, Barbara and I escorted an elderly lady to a prison unit to see her son. With the rheumatoid arthritis she was dealing with, it was a painful labor to make the walk up the sidewalk. With the heat of the day, and being somewhat of a heavy lady, she was quite winded and needing supportive assistance, for which I was happy to provide. We finally made it to the processing area only to find out that a new policy had started being enforced just that day. We were told that ladies wearing dresses could no longer come in. We learned that many had been turned away that day, and we were one of the ones that had driven quite a distance. We did not want to be turned away. Both Barbara and the elderly lady had just come from church and they wore dresses. The lady had been to see her son before, and she always wears a dress, and she had no problem before. Neither her son nor had she been informed of the new policy enactment. There was no sign posted anywhere stating this policy item. Well Barbara was not going to take this sitting down. She kindly challenged the application of such a policy, especially without any prior notification. As some resistance was offered she asked to speak with the person who made the policy. After some debate, it was decided the warden should come and look into the situation. He soon came and a printout of the policy was provided. The wording concerning what could and could not be worn was this: “mini-skirts/dresses”. Somebody interpreted that to mean mini-skirts and all dresses. Barbara pointed out that it was saying what could not be worn was mini-skirts and mini-dresses, and that neither of them had on a mini-dress. After some further consideration, a consensus was reached that Barbara was right, the policy did not in fact forbid the wearing of dresses. We were allowed to go in and the elderly lady was able to visit with her son for about a half hour. Lesson for the kingdom: God has given us authority over sin, sickness, Satan, and sorry circumstances. Through the name of Jesus and by taking action we can bring about a change. Change is not enacted by passivity. It takes activity. “Faith without works is dead” (James 2:20). Believing is like a ham and eggs breakfast. The chicken got involved, but the pig made a commitment. True believing is making a commitment with one’s life that brings about a change. A Chicken or a pig?

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