ROMANS 8:28-30   And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose. For those God foreknew he also predestined to be conformed to the likeness of his Son, that he might be the firstborn among many brothers. And those he predestined, he also called;  those he called, he also justified;  those he justified, he also glorified.

A lamb and its mother passed a pig pen each morning on the way to the pasture. Watching the pigs wallow in the mud seemed like such fun, and on one terribly hot day the lamb asked his mother if he could jump the fence and wallow in the cool mud. “No,” she replied. The lamb asked the usual question: “Why not?” The mother just replied, “Sheep don’t wallow.” Of course, this didn’t satisfy that little lamb. He felt his mother was being arbitrary and had no good reason to forbid him to play in the mud. So as soon as his mother was out of sight, he ran to the pig pen and jumped the fence. He was soon feeling the cool mud on his feet, his legs, and then his stomach. After a few minutes, he decided that he had better go back to his mother, but he could not. He was stuck. Mud and wool don’t mix. His pleasure had become his prison. He cried out and was rescued by a kindly farmer. When cleaned and returned to his fold, his mother said, “Remember: Sheep don’t wallow.”

Sin is like that. It can look so nice and appealing, and we think we can escape it whenever we wish, but it just isn’t so. What looks like a pleasure will turn into a prison. We become bogged down in the mire of our evil deeds. We were stuck and could do nothing to remove ourselves. Yet someone came and pulled us out: Jesus! And not only did he free us, he also cleaned us up, so that we were once again white as snow in the sight of our heavenly Father. And then our Good Shepherd gives the sheep of His flock this advice: My Sheep don’t Wallow in Sin.

Instead of wallowing in sin, you are to follow the guiding of your gentle shepherd. You are to conform your lives so that they are always more like His. He has called you to be His sheep. As the passage above tells us, those he called, he also justified. All the filth of your sin has been removed through faith in Jesus Christ as your only hope of rescue. You have been made clean again. Why would you want to go back to wallowing? The proper response would instead be to live according to his purpose.

Where do you find out how to conform your life to the likeness of Jesus? What is your manual for living according to his purpose? It is God’s Word. The Psalmist speaks of it:

“Righteous are you, O Lord, and your laws are right.” (Psalm 119:137)

“Oh, how I love your law! I meditate on it all day long.” (Psalm 119:97)

“Your word is a lamp to my feet and a light for my path.” (Psalm 119:105)

Is this true of you? Do you recognize that God’s law is actually good for you? Do you study it so that you can know his will? If you are going to live according to his purpose, you must know what that purpose is, and you will find it only in His Word.