“And you are also among those who are called to belong to Jesus Christ.” (Romans 1:6)
I remember a testimony from a lady in my church years ago. She confessed to having a nervous breakdown and was so stressed out that she couldn’t remember her own name. Ultimately, it was her faith that brought her through. “I may not have known my name,” she exclaimed, “but Jesus did.”
I thought about her story and realized the comfort that comes from knowing that we belong to Christ. For many, it’s the first outward and visible sign of the peace that comes with salvation. In fact, the Apostle Paul said it this way: “And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus. (Philippians 4:7)
But you know what? There’s another truth in her story. And that is you cannot fully appreciate the comfort that comes from belonging until you’ve experienced what it feels like not to belong.
We all know what it’s like to feel as if we don’t belong, don’t we?
I remember the first time I felt like I didn’t belong. I was in the eighth grade, a tender fourteen year-old who was in love for the first time. She broke up with me just before the end of the school year. I was devastated and remember crying uncontrollably in the arms of loving teacher who just held me and reassured me that everything was going to turn out just fine.
What crushed me even more was when I found out that she broke up with me largely because I came from the wrong side of the tracks. I wasn’t good enough for her. It was a painful reminder that I was running in a crowd to which I did not belong.
I’ve never forgotten that feeling. But that childhood experience taught me an invaluable lesson. I promised myself that regardless of my station in life, I would never treat anyone as if they did not belong.
The truth is we’re all from the wrong side of the tracks when it comes to God. But he doesn’t think of us that way. He loves us in spite of ourselves. In fact, to those of us who sometimes feel like we don’t belong, the Cross represents a bridge over which we can escape a life of sin and live like Kings, or should I say children of a King?
The irony is once we experience true salvation, we realize that we really didn’t belong all along. That’s what Paul meant when he told the church at Ephesus, “Consequently, you are no longer foreigners and aliens, but fellow citizens with God’s people and members of God’s household.” (Ephesians 2:19)
But that sacrifice didn’t come easy. Jesus laid down his life just so we could know life, so that we could know what it really feels like to belong.
So while we may continue to find ourselves in situations where we feel as if we don’t belong, we have the satisfaction of knowing that we belong to Christ. He knows our name. In fact, He wrote it down in the Lamb’s Book of Life.
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