TWO BELLY BUTTONS

Test yourselves to see if you are in the faith; examine yourselves! Or do you not recognize about yourselves that Jesus Christ is in you—unless indeed you fail the test? 2 Corinthians 13:5

 I have two belly buttons. I find it fun to say that. Not many people can. One is from my mother; the other is from the removal of a feeding tube the hospital inserted when I was unconscious and unable to eat during weeks of Covid treatment. The one from my mother allowed me to be alive. The one from the hospital gave me a chance to continue living.

As I was getting dressed one morning I again noticed them and a curious thought crossed my mind. One reminds me that I was born; the other reminds me that I have been born again. Born because 9/30/48 I left my mother’s womb. Born again because when I was 12 years old I asked Jesus to be my Savior, which Jesus called being “born again.”

The phrase “born once, die twice; born twice, die once” has been attributed to Martin Luther. It means that if you have only been born physically, you will have both a physical and a spiritual death. Spiritual death results in eternal separation from God, your body, and from everyone and everything else. But if you are born both physically and spiritually you will only have a physical death (if Jesus does not rapture His church before you die). Then you will have eternal life with God in a body, and with countless others who have also been born twice.

You would be wise to test yourself to see if you are in the faith. Do you recall when you were born again?

Have you been born once, or twice?

Jeffrey Eno