“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.
