During hubby’s and my travels the past two weeks we were in three different countries: Greece, Turkiye, and Italy. The people of Greece were wonderfully kind. The country was beautiful. The food was delicious. The historical sights were fascinating. But Greece wasn’t home. We were only visiting for a brief time.
Our time in Turkiye was likewise a wonderful time. We enjoyed our visit very much. But Turkiye wasn’t home.
Our time in Italy was busy! Bustling! Lots of excitement and activity. The pizza was great. The granitas were delicious.
But … Italy wasn’t home.
As our travels were wrapping up and coming to an end, both hubby and I were ready to return home.
We loved every moment of our journey. But we were ready to go home. Our citizenship was not of this country. We were not of these people. We were from another land. A land far away … across the sea.
We arrived at the Rome airport with our passports in hand. We would not be allowed to board our plane and fly to our country without first going through Passport Check.
We waited in queue as one by one people stepped up to each of the “turnstile-type” machines (like the machines to enter the subway or an art museum). The little door-flaps were shut. You could not pass through until you placed your passport on the scanner and scanned your passport.
Once your passport was scanned, the light turned green, and the little door-flaps opened for you to pass through.
However, here you were contained in yet another small holding space, behind yet another set of little door-flaps which were shut. Here, you looked up at a computer screen to your right (which was also a camera), as the camera took your photo and verified it against your passport information.
A green checkmark appeared on the screen … the little door-flaps opened … and you were allowed to pass through. Whereupon you stepped up to the border agent in the booth who stamped your passport, allowing you to leave the country.
As I went through the process of leaving the foreign country which I was visiting and returning to my home country, I couldn’t help but think how similar it is to going to Heaven.
If we are a follower of Jesus Christ, our “citizenship” is not of this world.
If we have repented of our sin and accepted Jesus’s free gift of salvation for us, Jesus has given us a new “citizenship.” We are now “citizens” of Heaven.
Each day as we get up and head off to do whatever it is we have been tasked to do that day … it is no different than an ambassador in a foreign country rising each morning and doing whatever needs to be done. An ambassador in a foreign country knows the language. An ambassador in a foreign country understands the customs and culture; knows how to interact with the locals to accomplish what needs to be done.
But an ambassador in a foreign country is not a citizen of that country. They are only residing there temporarily.
Once their assignment has been completed … they will return home. To their home country.
If we are a follower of Jesus Christ, we are an “ambassador” of Heaven. We are living here on this earth, tasked by God with an assignment to accomplish in this world. We rise each day, just like an ambassador in a foreign country, and we give our all to do what we have been commissioned to do.
We have been placed here in this world, in this exact location, to share the good news of Jesus Christ with everyone around us. That is our task. We are tasked to love people with the love of Jesus Christ.
As an “ambassador” of Heaven we are living in this world – living immersed in the worldly system which is apart from God & opposed to God. But we are not of the world. We are only residing here temporarily. We understand the “language” of the world. We understand the “culture” and the “customs” of the world. We know how to interact with those in the world who know nothing about God.
Once our assignment has been completed … God will call us home. Home to Heaven.
On hubby’s and my flight from Rome back to the U.S. I kept an eye on the flight maps on the tv screens. We had a long stretch to cross across the Atlantic Ocean. As the flight maps began to indicate our approach to the coastline of the U.S. … I started scanning the horizon out the window!
There it is! There’s land! There’s my country!
I felt a wave of emotion wash over me as I finally saw the coastline of my homeland! This is my home! This is my country! This is home!
And so it will be when God calls us from this world to Heaven.
And so we wait … in anticipation! Looking forward with excitement for when we will see the “coastline” of our heavenly homeland!
But … as nice as it would be to end this blog post right there, I have to mention one more thing. Hubby and I were not automatically granted entrance into the U.S. once our plane landed. We had to go through Customs. We had to show our passports.
Are we truly citizens of this country??
Yes! We stepped up to the computer screen (once again) and the camera took a photo of our face. A green checkmark appeared, and the customs agent waved us on, welcoming us home.
Just because a person wants to go to Heaven does not mean they will automatically be granted access. Before being allowed into Heaven we each must personally, individually go through “Customs.” We must show our “passport.”
Are we truly a “citizen” of Heaven??
Jesus Christ is our passport. If we have repented of our sin and accepted Jesus’s free gift of salvation, then Jesus has given us “citizenship.” Jesus himself is our passport.
Do you have the correct “passport” for entrance into Heaven??
Have you accepted Jesus’s free gift of salvation for you?
“But our citizenship is in heaven. And we eagerly await a Savior from there, the Lord Jesus Christ, who, by the power that enables him to bring everything under his control, will transform our lowly bodies so that they will be like his glorious body.” – Philippians 3:20-21
