Citizens of South Africa

Our country is not always in a very good place and sometimes I'm amazed at the things that my fellow citizens do. But I'm proud of my country and its people, even though some factions drive me up the wall. Proudly South African!

It's good to know that I belong somewhere. It gives meaning and value to my life. When I'm alone, I can console myself that I do belong somewhere. I have fellow citizens who think the way I do, speak the way I do, and do like I do. We even dream about the same things.

In the same way, we're citizens of another kingdom, the Kingdom of God: 20But there's far more to life for us. We're citizens of high heaven! We're waiting the arrival of the Savior...  We're also citizen of heaven, because that's where our Father lives. We're different from other people, because our identity is that of citizens of heaven. We have a Father in our country who makes us different. A different homeland where we belong.

Are you a good citizen of your country and of heaven?
I had a letter from an SAPS Lieutenant Colonel asking the similar questions:

For us as South Africans it is all too easy to say that we are Christians. But are we?

If we are, why don't we apply the Ten Commandments in our daily lives? We'll have to realize that if we don't do it, we're defying our Creator's instructions to us as Christians - then we will have to take the consequences of poor judgment and poor decision-making, because we're not obeying his commands. You can ask me - I've stood behind this door as sinner, with catastrophic results.

As Christians we will have to strive in future to bring the South African youth closer to God and to make them real Christians, because the label of violence around the necks of our fellow citizens are becoming bigger and bigger.

Are we really living differently as citizens of our country? Do others see that we're also citizens of our Homeland?

The things of our Homeland should be the only things that matter. We should strive to achieve this. We should live in such a way that our Father's world is already taking shape in our lives here on earth. Which means that we have to make God's world a reality wherever we go. We can do this in different ways.

The easiest measure is to do all that we do with love. To talk in love, to scold, to dream, to think, to everything! And then to find places where we can make this happen.

If we can do that, our citizenship of our Homeland will be fixed here on earth already and the world around us will look different.

Bible Reading

   Philippians 3:17-21

Reflection

Do we really live differently from the other citizens of our country?

Do others see that we're also citizens of our Homeland?

What should we do now?

Prayer

Lord, I realize my identity lies in You. I realize that I'm different because I believe in you. I realize that I'm already a citizen of eternal life. Please help me to make that visible on earth. Amen

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 By Gerjo Ben Van Der Merwe

Article Source:  Citizens of South Africa