The Best of Both Worlds

“I have given them Thy Word: and the world hated them, because they are not of this world, even as I am not of this world.”  John 17:14

This verse is from Jesus’ prayer to His Father regarding His disciples.  He had spent three plus years with them, traveling from town to town, teaching them truths about God and God’s relationship with mankind.  He was preparing them for a future life of obedience, ministry, and also hardship.  Even while Jesus was still walking among them, they suffered persecution from the religious leaders and some of the common folks who saw them through eyes of mistrust, incredulity, and skepticism.  After all, they were common folks, too.  Why should they be special?

Perhaps some people were jealous of the attention that Jesus and His disciples were receiving.  Whatever the reason people had, the disciples experienced much hatred.  Jesus said they were hated because they were “not of this world”.  What did He mean by that?  There are basically two kinds of people in the world:  those that belong to the secular world, the here and now, who seek power, pleasure, fame, and fortune, with little thought to eternity.  Then there are those who know that this world and everything in it are only temporary, and that the earth is just a “proving ground” for what lies ahead.  The former live for themselves, and the latter live in this world, but with the hope of a new world where Christ reigns in peace for all eternity.

I have never seen so much hatred displayed across the globe as we are experiencing now.  I see all the turmoil and hostility as nothing more than good versus evil.  That has been the theme of mankind since the very beginning of time.  It is certainly displayed in the pages of the Old Testament and also in the New Testament.  It is a fight that will continue until Christ reigns at His return and restores earth as God intended from the beginning.  But, until that day comes, we have a choice as to which world we will live in, the world where man is the ruler, or the world in which God reigns in our hearts.  Which world will you choose?