THE HOG

Feed him in milk,
Dress him in silk,
And call him a beautiful name;
But I’ll tell you, Bud,
He’ll root in the mud,
And act the hog just the same.

Don’t think it amiss,
Because he does this,
And call him a horrid bad creature;
For he is no dog,
He’s only a hog,
And follows the bent of his nature.

If he had a sheep’s heart,
He’d do a sheep’s part,
And down in the mud wouldn’t wallow;
But as he is no lamb,
He can’t act like them,
For nature’s the thing that we follow.

So, the nature of sin
Forever has been,
To root in the mud with the Devil;
From sin to depart,
It takes a new heart,
To lift to a higher clean level.

Man may do his part,
But can’t change his heart,
This power to him is not given;
He may look and pray
For a clean heart today,
And God can answer from heaven.
—J. L. Brown [a Missionary Baptist preacher in north Arkansas, who for a time served in the state legislature.

HL Jinx Wilkinson