by Elizabeth Haarberg

Our True Citizenship

You can listen to today’s devotion by clicking on this SoundCloud link.

“But our citizenship is in heaven, and from it we await a Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ, who will transform our lowly body to be like his glorious body, by the power that enables him even to subject all things to himself.”
Philippians 3:21

We live in a beautiful world, created just for our pleasure. Imagining that there is more and something better after this life is hard to visualize. Right now, I’m looking out my window at the trees, grass, and flowers that are so lovely.

But where do we belong? The verse above says we are citizens of heaven.

Citizenship. What does that entail? You have a passport or a driver’s license or social security card for the country in which you live. There’s a record of the card or ID you’ve received. What’s our heavenly identification? Where is our heavenly citizenship recorded?

“He who overcomes will thus be clothed in white garments; and I will not erase his name from the book of life, and I will confess his name before My Father and before His angels.”
Revelation 3:5

The book of life is discussed in multiple places in the Bible. It’s the record of who is a citizen of heaven. Knowing that there is a book in the heavenly realm in which our names are written is interesting.

I don’t want to create a spirit of fear; however, I do want to encourage you to come into relationship with God. The concern of whether you are or aren’t a citizen will fall away as your relationship with God increases. Fear is never a good motivator and it’s what kept me away from wanting to know God for most of my life. When I realized how good He is and my need for His grace, that’s when he drew me closer.

Knowing I’m a citizen of heaven is empowering and encouraging. I don’t have to wait until I take my last breath to become a citizen of heaven, I can call on the love and power of the Holy Spirit now because I belong to His world.

Thy Kingdom come…here and now.

Copyright Holy Cross Lutheran Church, Colorado Springs, Colorado