Nougat 19

I’m not my own, I belong to Jesus

I’m not my own, I belong to Him

He bled and died on Calvary

I’m not my own, I belong to Him

What a beautiful reminder to take us through the remainder of the weekend! I pray that this sense of belongingness buoys our spirits in all we do. And if we know we belong to Y’shua, let’s recognise that we’re also of God, and that it isn’t our true home. Consider Today’s Holy Nougat.

1 Peter 1:17 NIV

[17] Since you call on a Father who judges each person’s work impartially, live out your time as foreigners here in reverent fear.

Faith-Filled Fear

In this call to holiness, Peter reminds us that we’re citizens of Heaven. Our citizenship derives from our faith in Y’shua, the Son of God, Sovereign of all creation. For many of us, Peter’s proposal is not easy. It invites us to operate in dual citizenship mode, where we are always answering to two somewhat contradictory systems of governance. Earthly laws are usually for the present moment and are subject to the person in power at a given time. God’s laws, on the other hand, are for here and after, securing us eternal residency at the time of Christ’s return. Moreover, our being unable to see the immediate impact of breaking those laws (all thanks to Christ’s grace), might mislead us into thinking they are less consequential.

Self-Check

How high a premium do we place on obeying God relative to earthly law?

Application

For many of us as believers Heaven seems like a distant place, despite our inability to fully cope with life in this world. Moreover, aside from Y’shua, we don’t know anyone who has been to Heaven and returned to tell us what it is truly like. I’m not just talking about the streets of gold, I’m talking about what it means to live in Heaven. And since it’s not a regular visa that gets us there – we don’t get residency until after Christ returns – we can’t do a test visit.

In fact, that might be the root of our approach to obedience to God – the fact that it’s all about faith. We have to believe

First that God exists,

then that

Y’shua is God’s only begotten Son,

then

Accept Him as our true Sovereign,

and

Believe that Heaven is real, and Y’shua is gone to secure our resident status there

before deciding to honour both Y’shua and God with our obedience in anticipation of living with them eventually in Heaven.

Perhaps that’s why some of us take obedience for granted. We might have had a crisis of faith.

Yes siblings, it takes faith to fear God and to obey God’s word. Especially since Y’shua sums God’s laws into two not-so-simple commandments:

Love God with our everything

Love our neighbour as much as we love ourselves

Oy

Not so easy when we can’t physically see God, and our neighbour gets on our nerves. Not so easy when we associate fear with [potentially] abusive relationships or threatening situations. That’s not a very hopeful picture of a god we’d like to serve.

It shouldn’t be. God isn’t that angry, unstable sovereign whose rules are randomly changed. And whether we compute it as a crime or sin to disregard God’s laws, the fact is that the original death penalty for treason (that’s what a crime against a sovereignty boils down to, so that’s what sin is) has been cancelled.

There is a major caveat. We have to receive the presidential pardon that was secured through Christ. That’s the grace that invites us to faithfully fear God and willingly obey. Fear in this instance is about loving respect and less of worry of undeserved or unjust punishment. It is about acceptance of grace that secured our dual citizenship.

Point to Ponder

What motivates our fear of God – loving gratitude, or avoiding threats?

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May all we seek be found in Christ