Jeremiah 12:9, "Has not My inheritance become to Me like a speckled bird of prey, that other birds of prey surround and attack?" The imagery used in this verse is striking. A "speckled bird"--conspicuous, isolated, and targeted. This is how God described His people in the days of Jeremiah, and it remains a fitting picture of the true Christian in this Christ-rejecting world. Spurgeon, with his usual spiritual insight, applies this to the believer who has been redeemed by sovereign grace: He will soon become a speckled bird in the midst of this wicked world! Why is this so? Because the believer is no longer of the world. Though still in it, he is transformed by sovereign grace. The Holy Spirit has renewed his mind, opened his understanding, and given him a new heart with new desires. The result is inevitable: the Christian will think differently, live differently, and aspire after different things. The world will not understand him--nor will it welcome him. The Apostle Paul declared, "Do not conform any longer to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind." Romans 12:2. This is not a mild suggestion, but a divine command. The world marches to the rhythm of pride, lust, greed, and self-glory. The believer walks to the beat of a very different drum--Christ crucified, Christ risen, Christ exalted. The child of God does not conform to the world in its pleasures, pursuits, or values. Certain things that are perfectly acceptable--even celebrated by society--the Christian must abhor. Why? Because he is governed by a higher standard: the Word of God. He is not concerned with appearing "normal" to the crowd, but with being pleasing to his Savior.