Citizens of Heaven

But our citizenship is in heaven. And we eagerly await a Savior from there, the Lord Jesus Christ…  -Philippians 3:20

As Christians, we hold dual citizenship, that of our home country here in the physically world, but ultimately we are citizens of Heaven.  Our highest allegiance is to Heaven where we await our savior to return.  One of the biggest struggles I face is not to become comfortable, to settle down in this world, in my home in the United States.  To remember that we are only temporarily living in this world.  We are to be in this world, not of this world.  But as citizens of of God’s kingdom, living here on earth how should we act?

One thing that is important and is consistently on my mind (though I’m as imperfect as they come in this), is to set ourselves as a pattern for how a Christian citizen is supposed to live.  We are to be human Bibles.  In a sermon I heard recently, the pastor said “There are tons of Bibles out there in many different translations, but the only Bible that the unsaved are bothering to read, is the bible that is characterized by our lives.  If our unsaved friends do not see Jesus Christ in us, they may never see Him at all.”

For, as I have often told you before and now tell you again even with tears, many live as enemies of the cross of Christ.  Their destiny is destruction, their god is their stomach, and their glory is in their shame. Their mind is set on earthly things. – Philippians 3:18-19

That is how the ungodly live….we are not to live like that.  We are to live as citizens of Heaven.

If others were to imitate our Christian life what would happen?  Would we want others to strive more like us?  The answer for myself is not the one I want it to be.  But if our goal as citizens of Heaven  is serving God and his kingdom, than we can be the model Christian citizens that Paul is talking about.  Something to work towards.