And He said unto them, Ye are from beneath; I am from above:

ye are of this world; I am not of this world. (John 8:23)

Have you ever said, "Stop the world I want to get off?" I guess we all feel something like that sometimes. But, what if you could just choose the world you want to be "of?" What if you could remake your world into one of love, joy, peace, long-suffering, gentleness, goodness, faith, meekness, and temperance? Would you do it? If your answer is "no," you can stop reading. Could you do it? No. But, Jesus already has!

Still reading? Good. As Jesus debated the leaders of the Jewish temple, He made it clear that they had made a choice to, "die in their sins," because they had already made a final choice not to believe in Him. They had chosen a world of deceit, strife, bloodshed, and survival of the fittest, instead of the one Jesus offers to all those who, "believe that I am He." And, in verse 28 He reiterated, "When ye have LIFTED UP THE SON OF MAN, then shall ye know that I am He..." Yes, when you and I make the conscious decision (sometimes many times a day) to lift Jesus up to the highest place in our esteem from the muddy disrespect of second, or third or last place in our lives, we then are able to "know" Him.

So, it is true that you and I CAN choose the kind of world we are "of." The kind of world we have been "born again," into by our own act of faith. Or, we can continue to reject that rebirth for the depravity of this world that our earthly bodies have to live in for a time yet. I will continue to choose eternal life in a world with Jesus. What about you?