CITIZENS OF HEAVEN
Philippians 3:17-21

For our citizenship is in heaven.

As believers in the Lord Jesus, we are citizens of heaven. Yet all too often we act as if this world is our permanent residence. A man visited his longtime friend, a British military officer stationed in an African jungle. One day when the friend entered the officer’s hut, he was startled to see him dressed in formal attire and seated at a table set with silverware and fine china. The visitor asked why he was all dressed up and seated at a table so sumptuously arrayed in the jungle. The officer explained, "Once a week I follow this routine to remind myself of who I am-a British citizen. I want to maintain the customs of my real home and live according to the codes of British conduct, no matter how those around me live. I want to avoid substituting a foreign culture for that of my homeland."

Christians should have a similar concern. Our true citizenship is in heaven, so we must beware of substituting the foreign culture of this world for that of our real homeland (see Romans 12:2). We are not to take on it’s sinful ways or adopt it’s values. We need to live in such a way that others will see that we are different. We are strangers in this world and citizens of heaven.

Though like pilgrims here we wander, it is wonderful to ponder All the blessings waiting yonder when we all get home.