Got your passport?
September 24, 2007
By Greg Ebie
If you have never traveled to a foreign country then you may not appreciate the importance of a passport. It is the legal document that proves your citizenship. As we have traveled we’ve always made two copies of our passports in case ours ended up lost or stolen. When you are thousands of miles away from home that copy could be the key to establishing your citizenship and getting back home.
“But our citizenship is in heaven. And we eagerly await a Savior from there, the Lord Jesus Christ” (Philippians 3:20, NIV).
For most people their citizenship is established by birth. Paul, while born a Jew, was also a Roman citizen by birth. I was born an American citizen. Paul met other Roman citizens by birth, individuals who purchased their citizenship, and those who were not citizens. Likewise, I know others who were born U.S. citizens, those who were naturalized, and some who are not U.S. citizens but are citizens of another nation.
Yet you and I can have a dual citizenship. It is a citizenship we can choose, but also a citizenship that comes by birth — or should I say rebirth. We can also be citizens of heaven.
God gave His only Son Jesus so that all who believe in Him will be forgiven of their sins and become children of God. This rebirth by faith in Jesus makes us citizens of heaven.
God has given us His Holy Spirit as a seal that we are children of God (see 2 Corinthians 1:22; Ephesians 1:13). The Holy Spirit is our “passport” proving we are citizens of heaven. We may be living away from our new homeland, but our passport will get us home where we belong.
As a citizen of heaven I have certain rights and responsibilities. I am given the privilege of prayer, to enter into God’s presence with the confidence that He will hear me. And as a citizen of heaven I am to live like Jesus.
Can I see your passport please?
D. Greg Ebie is senior pastor of Praise Assembly of God in Garrettsville, Ohio, and an author of Daily Bread devotionals.
“As believers, we can either pick up stones or lift up the fallen. It’s easier to throw stones, but far more productive and rewarding to extend the hand of friendship and say, ‘Jesus still loves you, and so do I.’ ”
“Editor’s Journey: Stones Are for Pharisees,” Hal Donaldson
Today’s Pentecostal Evangel, September 23, 2007
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