During the past few months major earthquakes have occurred, e.g. in Australia, Acapuloco, Haiti, with the loss of thousands of lives. However, in the midst of the reports of devastation, one headline caught my eye: ‘Strong-willed Pig: Animal that survived Sichuan earthquake dies’. It concerned the death of a pig that became famous in China after surviving 36 days under rubble, following a powerful earthquake. The article reported that the pig had died of old age and exhaustion in a museum in China’s Sichuan province. It was seen as a symbol of hope and, since its death, 430 million people have taken to social media to pay tribute to its ‘long life of 14 years!’ One person wrote: ‘RIP you are ‘THE MIRACLE OF LIFE’ and the symbol of strength’. The earthquake killed nearly 90,000 people in 2008.

To describe a dead pig as ‘the miracle of life’ stretches the imagination somewhat! It is true that the Bible points us to a dead Man: ‘But God demonstrates His own love toward us, in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us’, Romans chapter 5 verse 8. However, God raised this Man, Jesus Christ, from the dead and He now lives in ‘the power of an endless life’, Hebrews chapter 7 verse 16.

We leave this meditation by pointing you to the keeper of a prison in Philippi, who was fearful that all his prisoners had escaped as a result of a great earthquake. Two of his Christian prisoners, Paul and Silas, assured him that that they were all still there. Greatly relieved, he asked them, ‘Sirs, what must I do to be saved?’ They replied, ‘Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, and you will be saved’, Acts chapter 16 verses 25-31. He believed and discovered the true ‘miracle of life’ in the prison that day!