By LaBreeska Crowe
A few years ago, on a recent visit to our local library, I checked out a few movies for the boys to watch while I completed a few tasks around the house. One movie included a collection of popular children’s stories. One story they were particularly fond of was “The Three Little Pigs”.
After playing the movie numerous times, the boys began to memorize the story. From that point on, all they could talk about (and sing about) were the Three Pigs and the Big Bad Wolf. As they attempted to tell me about this classic fable, I began to think of the story from a spiritual aspect and how it can be applied in our daily battle with Satan who is “the Big Bad Wolf” in our lives.
Much like the wolf in this story, Satan goes out “seeking whom he may devour” (1 Peter 5:8). And you know what? Sometimes, we can exhibit some of the same qualities as those pigs.
Maybe we are like the first pig who built his house with straw, a very weak, flimsy building material. This pig wanted to get by with the bare minimum. How many of us are like that? We are content with attending a couple Sunday services here or there (Easter and Christmas) and placing our unread family Bible on our table in an attempt to show we are “religious”. Perhaps the only time our children hear us pray is when we want our favorite team to win the Championship game or on certain holidays. We do just enough to get by.
Sisters, when we try to build our home and family life with as little Jesus as possible, we create an inadequate foundation. When the enemy blows his winds of anger, jealousy, doubt, and despair, we topple over with ease just like the straw house this pig built. We are unable to stand, because we have nothing stable to stand on.
Matthew 7:26, 27 (ESV) says: “And everyone who hears these words of mine and does not do them will be like a foolish man who built his house on the sand. And the rain fell, and the floods came, and the winds blew and beat against that house, and it fell, and great was the fall of it.”
Consider the second pig, who built his home out of sticks. Although the sticks appeared to be a little stronger than the straw his brother used, it still was not enough to keep the wolf from blowing his house down. Oftentimes, we give the impression that we have it all together. We regularly attend the local church carrying our super highlighted Bible with tattered pages. We have mastered all of the church mannerisms and jargon. However, when it comes to living for Jesus, we must not be more focused on looking the part, but rather on the proximity of our hearts.
Matthew 15:8-9 (HCSB) says: “These people honor Me with their lips, but their heart is far from Me. They worship Me in vain, teaching as doctrines the commands of men.”
It is not enough to carry the Word of God in our hands and quote scriptures verbatim. If the Word isn’t etched in our hearts when Satan blows his winds of adversity, our house will crumble.
Now the third pig was something else. Can’t you see him? Confident. Fearless. No worries. Ready and prepared for the wolf’s imminent attack. This pig built his house out of bricks—strong and unwavering. He built his house out of material he could depend on, material that was proven to withstand hardships, material that would not fail him. When we prioritize God’s Word in our lives, we are building our home with bricks. As the word takes root in our hearts, we strengthen our home– creating a fortress that the devil cannot infiltrate. No matter what he throws at us–loss of a job, infidelity, a child with a drug addiction, failing health–it will not destroy us.
Isaiah 54:17 (NASB) says: “No weapon that is formed against you will prosper; And every tongue that accuses you in judgment you will condemn. This is the heritage of the servants of the Lord, And their vindication is from Me,” declares the Lord.
We can declare this scripture with confidence, knowing that we already have victory over the enemy.
Our homes are only as strong as what we build them with. My desire is that, as women, we build our homes with the truths of God and not by the world’s standards.
I am challenging each of us to ask ourselves this question: “When the Big Bad Wolf blows on my house, will it stand?”
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