There is an old farmyard fable that may stretch our imagination as it teaches us a valuable lesson. It has to do with a farmer who was very kind to his animals. They were thankful for this and formed a committee to decide what they could all do for the farmer to show him their appreciation. The farmyard animals chose a chicken and a pig to determine their course of action.
As committees will do, these two sat and thought and thought. Suddenly, the chicken exclaimed with excitement, “I got it, I got it.” Her grammar might not have been perfect but, after all, she had a bird brain. The pig eagerly asked, “What is it?”
The chicken enthusiastically explained, “Let’s serve the farmer a ham and egg breakfast.” The pig did not share the chicken’s enthusiasm and replied, “For you that’s a day’s work, but for me that’s total commitment.”
The story may be silly but the lesson it teaches is profound. If we want to show our appreciation to our Master, it is going to take more than a day’s work. It will take total commitment.
Many of us are willing to show our appreciation but it is all too easy to fall far short of total commitment. Do any of us think that we can please our Master with less than our best? Can we be in the Truth, but not have the Truth in us?
Jesus was asked a question that should sober us. “Lord, are there few that be saved? And he said unto them, Strive to enter in at the strait gate: for many, I say unto you, will seek to enter in, and shall not be able.” Our Master here makes a distinction between striving and seeking. It is the same difference as exists between a day’s work and total commitment. It is also the difference between eternal life and eternal death. So we should pay attention to the difference.
The Truth is not just a way of life; it is our life. If it is not, then in the final analysis, the verdict will be the one Jesus described in the incident just quoted. There will be some who will say to the Master when he comes, “We have eaten and drunk in thy presence, and thou hast taught in our streets.” But Jesus shall say, “I tell you, I know you not whence ye are; depart from me, all ye workers of iniquity.”
Total commitment means giving our all. That is the lesson we need to learn. Many are willing to give something, but Jesus indicates that few are willing to give their all. “Seek” means to desire, to endeavor, but “strive” means to agonize.
Just how much do we want to be in the kingdom? There is an old saying which said, “If wishes were horses, beggars would ride.” Do we just wish to be in the kingdom? Or do we agonize to be there?
In the fable, the chicken was willing to do something, just so long as it did not cost too much. Are we like that? The pig immediately realized that it would require total commitment for him to give his life and he understandably shied at the thought. How many of us are like that?
Jesus said, “For whosoever will save his life shall lose it: but whosoever will lose his life for my sake and the gospel’s, the same shall save it.”
The Origin of the Organic World – Part One