“These all died in faith,
not having received the promises, but having seen them afar off, and were
persuaded of them, and embraced them, and confessed that they were strangers
and pilgrims on the earth.” – Hebrews 11:13
Citizenship
in America, even today, is still a highly sought after. If not born to a US citizen or married to
one, the application process to become a legal American citizen can take
anywhere from six months to a year; sometimes even longer. A citizen of this country must abide by the
laws and statues of this Nation.
Further, most will find themselves assimilating and gravitating towards
the customs and traditions that make America, America. Typically, if and American citizen got on a
plane headed to some far away land, the moment you stepped off that plane it
would be evident that you were not from that country. You can tell that just by looking at you; you
are not a citizen, you are a stranger, a pilgrim; you don’t belong there.
To be a Christian is to be a citizen of
God’s country, and we are made a citizen not by birth of man, but by the
spiritual birth through the power of the Holy Ghost. Furthermore, if we are a citizen of God’s
country then by default we cannot be a citizen of the world (as defined in 1 John
2:16). The converse is also true; if you
claim to be a citizen of the world then you cannot be a citizen of God’s
country. There is no dual citizenship in
God’s kingdom, you are either known there and a stranger here; or you are known
here and a stranger there. This is
Biblical truth, so the question then becomes, where do you call home? Where is your citizenship? If you know that you have not been born again,
and affirm that you are a sinner in need of a Savior, then no doubt you are a
citizen of the world. Do not despair,
for we were once all in this state and by repenting of your sins and inviting
the Holy Ghost to come and lead your life; you can be born again and become a
citizen of God’s country. What then for
those of us who currently claim they are Christians? We ought
to give the more earnest heed to the things which we have heard, lest at any
time we let them slip (Heb 2:1). What
we say and what we do can often be two very different things. Cain hated his brother Abel and slew him. The righteousness of Abel’s heart was fleshed
out in the works that he did; and the unrighteousness of Cain’s heart was
fleshed out in the works that he did.
Where your citizenship is, is not determined by lip service, but by
heart service. Take for example military
personal that are called to serve in a foreign country. You will find that there is certain things
they avoid. They don’t not buy homes,
they typically don’t marry into that country, they don’t willingly assimilate
into the culture, they don’t invest a lot of time in gaining the things that
the citizens of that country hold dear…….Why is this? Simply because that’s not where their heart
is, that’s not where their allegiance is, and they don’t plan to stay very long. US soldiers don’t want to live aboard; they
want to come home! One of the devils
strongest temptations is right along these lines. He wants Christian’s to believe that this
world is our home. He wants us to get
acclimated, plan to stay awhile, build up OUR kingdom, and forget about
God’s. He wants us to live in houses
that are more shelter than we need, drive cars that we can’t afford, work, work,
work, and buy, buy, buy. Tempting us to
a “better” lifestyle that takes more time and effort to maintain. Tempting us, wooing us, into loving this
world and forgetting about the one to come.
The lie that we belong here is
constantly being sown into our lives.
When in reality, if we are truly children of God we will never feel at
home in this world, nor endeavor to be at home; we will remain pilgrims. We must remain pilgrims here, if we seek a
home up there.
