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👉🏼 (Reading: Philippians 3:17-21)
📜 """But our citizenship is in heaven. And we eagerly await a Saviour from there, the Lord Jesus Christ,""
Philippians 3:20 (NIV)
📋 ""Citizenship is the legal right to belong to a particular country. Citizenship in a rich and peaceful country is a pride for those who belong to it. We must be proud as citizens of heaven.""
When one becomes a true Christian, he/she is no longer a citizen of this world. By choosing to follow Jesus, one becomes a stranger and an alien on the earth. Jesus himself said of his followers: "They are not of this world. even as I am not of it" (John 17:16).
In today's focus verse, the Apostle Paul buttresses Jesus' statement: "But our citizenship is in heaven. And we eagerly await a Saviour from there, the Lord Jesus Christ." As Christians, we are pilgrims on a journey through the world; we are on our way to a new home.
In relation to our life's journey, its values and directions, heaven is our destination. It is the homeland for which we long. We have been born from above (John 3: 3): our names have been written in heaven's directory (Philippians 4:3).
Our lives are guided by heavenly standards; our rights and inheritance are reserved in heaven. If we are faithful to God, we can realise our hope going there. Jesus is there, preparing a place for us, and has promised to return and take us to heaven to be with him (John 14:2-3).
Do you live like a citizen of heaven?
🔑 Key Lesson: Jesus has made you a citizen of heaven.
🛐 Meditation and Prayer: Lord, help me to live as a citizen of heaven.
📚 Further Reading: Hebrews 12:22-24.
◼️ The Bible in One Year: Jeremiah 15-17.