Are You An Alien?

Once there was a cartoon, (which only the older folk will remember), in which a main character, who was an alien, ask the question, "Are you an earthling?"

In today's world Christians are viewed by many to be an alien group. If we are truly Christian, most people would look at us and think we are pretty peculiar. After all, even though we are living here in the USA, our final citizenship is in heaven. Though our bodies are finite, our souls are infinite. We live here now but we look for a better country to be our home soon. It looks like we don't really belong to this world since we are only sojourners here. Our speech is different, our morals are different, our outlook on life is different, even the way we do our jobs is different.

In order to be truly Christian, there are certain requirements. These begin with a genuine conversion experience. Jesus told Nicodemus, " You must be born again." (John 3:3). Nicodemus was a ruler of the Jews. Though he had studied the Scripture all his life, and though he was thoroughly trained in the study of the Scripture, this was a new concept with him. He was used to viewing the Scripture as a book of rules one must never violate. Many of his friends, fellow Sanhedrin Court members, thought of the Bible in the same way. They looked at the Bible as a Law that must not be transgressed. Transgression of it meant death. Jesus taught Nicodemus something new- the grace of God's love toward humanity. Jesus' way is life.

God's book, the Bible is a road map to godly living. Through Jesus' actions and through His teaching, men like Nicodemus, or you, or me, following the wooing of the Holy Spirit, see the Light. Jesus was so different from other Rabbis that they would not accept his teaching, but instead they had the Romans nail Him to a cross. Yes, he was alienated by them. He was different. How different from the world's ways are you?