Greetings dear ones
I pray you are well. In preparing to travel recently, I was struck by a colleague’s challenge to get visas for travel. In that moment, I realized that location makes a difference – in both our origins and our destination. Some require special passes, others don’t. This invited me to think about the idea spiritually. Consider Today’s Holy Nougat.
Philippians 3:20 NIV
[20] But our citizenship is in heaven. And we eagerly await a Saviour from there, the Lord Jesus Christ,
Our Citizenship is in Heaven
As previously mentioned, where we’re from, i.e., where our citizenship lies, matters when we’re travelling internationally. These days, there’s even a Global Passport Index (passportindex.org) that ranks the power of one’s native passport. This index is updated annually, as it recognises political instability can shift the balance of access, thereby changing one’s status. While the criteria used to determine a citizen’s free access to another county is determined by diplomatic relations and shared (colonial) experiences, a country’s perceived wealth also influences the balance.
Of course, we recognize that race and colonialism also influence these decisions, as reflected in the recent executive orders permitting one racial group exclusive access to a country.
Point to Ponder
To what extent does your birthplace matter to you? Does your birthplace still reflect your citizenship status?
Application
In many religious traditions, we live for this life as well as with a plan for life after life. Subsequently, one’s faith determines one’s spiritual fate. For us Christians, faith in Y’shua Jesus seals our fate re Heaven. It is our faith that gives us access, now and in the future. Our citizenship affords us the capacity to access the benefits of our national status through prayer and the mediation of God’s Spirit.
Already, we can access Heavenly resources to meet our needs while living here on earth. So we pray, ‘Your will be done on earth …’. We also anticipate the provision of our basic needs, both spiritual and material. In that regard, we could say that though Heaven is not wholly accessible to everyone, our citizenship secures us special access, even to the very Throne Room.
When it feels like our heavenly passport closes earthly doors, let us be consoled by the knowledge that no door can be shut on us without God’s permission. With God working all things for our long-term favour, we are assured that regardless of our earthly status, every disappointment is already programmed for God’s purpose.
Self-Check
Have we already secured our lifetime passport for entry into Heaven? It begins with Jesus Christ.
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May all we seek be found in Christ
https://www.passportindex.org
