The Story of King Neptune

Matthew 20:28 -- even as the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give His life a ransom for many.

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I don't know if you ever heard of an Illinois folk hero of several years ago. As a matter of fact, he was almost a household name in the part of Illinois from U. S. 40 down to Cairo. His name was King Neptune. He lived in the Shawneetown-Golconda-Harrisburg area. And as odd as it is, Joe Aaron, a writer for the Evansville, Indiana, Courier, reports in his book, 100 Miles From Home, that the local media of the area existant back during World War 2, had almost no reports of King Neptune. See, King Neptune almost single-handedly raised nearly $19 million dollars in WAR BONDS in the Southern Illinois area and across America. If there were movie stars in the area, King Neptune was almost always on stage with them. He made lots of personal appearances and people were just crazy to see this very famous servant working against Hitler and the Axis mob. Yep, King Neptune was a local folk hero. He was also a pig!

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That's right. He was a pig. A famous pig and how he gained that notoriety is probably a question we will never know in our day. His tomb stone relates how he was busy serving his country from 1942 until 1946, maybe playing as important a role as any combat troop, fighting the enemy. And at the ripe old age of 9, King Neptune was buried along Illinois Highway 146 just a short distance from Anna, Illinois. Today, it is said you can still go and stretch your legs and read a bit about this American servant. My next trip that way will be to check it out.

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I guess this might sound a little silly, but give me a moment before you toss this whole idea out as farmyard lunacy. If a pig can raise $19 million for the war effort of WW2, what can people who love the Lord do when they decide they want to be servants, no matter the cost, no matter the job, NO MATTER. . . simply because they love the Lord!!! Make all the puns you want about the pig. . .he really brought home the bacon; that pig knew how to ham it up . . .but whatever, he served a purpose in his day. Like Queen Esther, we have no idea except that we might be called to serve God in such a time as this. YOU ARE NEEDED! Come to the front, pick up the battle cry, serve the risen Savior who is in the world today!

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Dear God, often times we know this a need to serve, but our hearts aren't right and our choices are sometimes less desirable. Teach us to number our days in service to the King of Kings who died for us on the cross and who lives again. In Jesus name, Amen!