Citizenship

 

“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 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 an 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.  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 once we were all in this state and by repenting of our sins and inviting the Holy Ghost to come and live within, we were born again.  This made us a citizen of God’s country.  God did it, and he will do the same for you.  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.  The Holy Ghost will yield fruit that is holy in your life.  Take for example military personnel that are called to serve in a foreign country.  You will find that there are 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 devil’s 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 told to us.  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.