Can I see your passport please?

Several years ago I had to get my passport in order to travel overseas. I didn’t think much of it at the time because my new passport would be good through 2004. Ten years seemed like such a long time back then, but now I’ve blinked and the years are gone. I only used it three times and now it is expired (and a much younger me looks up at me from inside its cover).

If you have never traveled to a foreign country then you may not appreciate the importance of a passport. It is the legal document that proves your citizenship. As we traveled we always made two copies of our passports just in case ours ended up being lost or stolen. When you are thousands of miles away from home, that copy could be the key to establishing your citizenship and getting back home.

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

For most people their citizenship is established by birth. Paul while born a Jew was also a Roman citizen by birth. I was born an American citizen. Through Paul’s travels he met others born Roman citizens, citizen who purchased their citizenship, and those who were not citizens. Likewise, I know others who were born US citizens, those who were naturalized, and some who are not US citizens but are citizens of another nation.

Yet you and I can have a dual citizenship. It is a citizenship we can choose, but also a citizenship that comes by birth—or should I say rebirth. We can also be citizens of heaven.

God gave his only Son Jesus so that all who believe in Him will be forgiven of their sins and become children of God. This rebirth by faith in Jesus makes us citizens of heaven.

God has given us His Holy Spirit as a seal that we are children of God (see 2 Corinthians 1:22; Ephesians 1:13). The Holy Spirit is our passport proving that we are citizens of heaven. We may be living away from our new homeland, but our passport will get us home where we belong.

As a citizen of heaven I have certain rights and responsibilities. I am given the privilege of prayer, to enter into God’s presence with the confidence that He will hear me. And as a citizen of heaven I am to live like Jesus and not citizens of this world. Can I see your passport please?