Good morning dear
Have you ever needed a visa for travel? What was your experience like? Back in the day, and I mean waaaaayyyyy back, one would’ve needed to get to town from aa early as 4:00 to secure a space in the line, while praying that the day’s quota was After you. Then came the shuffle, round and round until it was time for the interview. One had to Prove that one was NOT an elopement risk (ie wouldn’t run off); and the interview was often intrusive and offensive. If you were selected for a visa, there was another appointment for collection of the passport.
And all that is just for the visa; it doesn’t include the potential trauma of the immigration process at the airport! For the man role of the immigration official is to remind the foreigner of their non-resident status. It’s not too surprising then that while preparing yesterday’s reflection I had a thought about nationhood and citizenship. Consider today’s Holy Nougat
“For our citizenship is in heaven, and from there we eagerly wait for the Savior, the Lord Yeshua the Messiah.” Philippians 3:20 TLV
For many of us, citizenship is a hot-button topic that has the potential of getting us divided on party lines. For, one often thinks of rights and privileges accorded to a citizen in relation to a foreigner. Pre-Covid-19, a citizen could freely travel in and out of one’s homeland without restrictions, and depending on one’s nationality, we would require visas for travel to restrictions, and depending on one’s nationality, we would require visas for travel to other countries.
I invite us to think about our citizenship in Heaven for a moment. To some degree, it is easier to determine what it is by exploring what it is not.
Most of us are citizens of Heaven by choice, not birth, as citizenship by birth was initially given to the Jews. However, when we pledge our allegiance to Jesus as Heaven’s Sovereign, we gain automatic status as citizens. No resident/visitors’ permit required first. No visa interviews, nor proof of status needed.
Unlike former colonies of Britain; Heaven offers access to a true Commonwealth – for each of us as citizens has potential for access to the wealth of Heaven. We have to know what we need and ask for it. And aside from the obvious ‘wealth’, we have access to the technology, personal agents assigned to us, AND direct access to our Sovereign Day or Night. Each of us serves in the military, but our roles vary according to our faith, not our skill.
The most interesting aspect of our citizenship however; is that most of us are residents on earth for a Very long time before we get to live in Heaven. And that’s perhaps what creates a challenge for lots of us – although we have citizenship there, we do not live in Heaven, thus we often forget our status. We forget the rights and privileges available to us citizens, and we may sometimes find ourselves acting as illegal immigrants!
Not necessary.
Our rights and privileges can be immediately accessed through Prayer. We ask, God responds to our needs of the moment. Sometimes it’s more than we anticipated, sometimes not. However, it begins with knowing what our rights and privileges are. More on that anon.
In Christ’s love and grace . . .
