An interesting part of my wife’s history is that she graduated high school with Garth Brooks. They were class-mates and knew each other from classes they took together and from having been involved in some of the same school activities.

Shortly after Garth’s first hit single came out we got to visit with him on his bus in Saltville, Virginia. He and his band were playing a free concert at a local festival there. We lived close by at the time, so we went to see him.

Not long after that, but still way before his super-star status, we visited with him again at the West Virginia State fair. This time, after inviting us into his bus, he opened a cooler, popped the tops on a couple of cokes and handed them to us. Call me crazy, but I kept the cans. I thought they would make great conversation pieces if Garth ever made it big. He did. They are. Hence, this article.

Yes, we still have the cans, and looking at them, you’d think that they are just regular old coke cans. Truly the one and only thing that makes them unique is that they were given to us by Garth.

In a small way, these cans illustrate the one major difference between those who are Christians and those who are not. What really sets Christians apart in this world is the fact that they belong to God.

Jesus’ apostle Paul taught the Christians in Corinth that they had been bought with a price, and therefore were not their own, 1st Corinthians 6:19-20. Being a parent I understand this idea of ownership that is really more of relationship.

I am the father of three children. Of course I care about all children, but at the end of the day, however, only three of them are mine.

It is the same with God. This is why Jesus told Nicodemus that he needed to be born again by water and the Spirit of God in John 3:1-5. This is how we come to be in His family. We are born into it, and just as Jesus taught Nicodemus, we will neither see nor come into the kingdom of God without this new birth.

The apostle Paul also wrote to the churches of Galatia saying:

For you are all sons of God through faith in Christ Jesus. For all of you who were baptized into Christ have clothed yourselves with Christ….. and if you belong to Christ, then you are Abrahams’ de-scendants, heirs according to promise. Galatians 3:26-27 & 29

So, do you belong to God, or are you just a regular coke can?