citizenship

''our citizenship is in heaven''
Philippians 3 v 20

still going along with the theme of CHANGE...

i attended a British Citizenship ceromony yesterday. there were about 10 people or so who had decided to naturalise; to become British. it was quite nice in a way. they all had to swear an oath of alligence (which i'm sure none of them understood a word of it) and listen to the national anthem. the Lord mayor did a short speech (which again noone really understood) and then they all collected their certificates, which is the only thing that people are interested in, so that they can immediately apply for a passport, so that they can travel out of the UK,....probably back to their own country! funny how some of these people have been waiting 10 years for this piece of paper. a right.

actually, i never thought much about it before, seemed like something normal, nothing special, a natural progression. but, in fact it can actually be quite a change. yes, you can get a british passport, get protected from the government. but in some cases you have to denounce your old citizenship. like my chinese friend. if he was to travel back to china using that passport, he would need a visa. despite him being proper chinese. it's a change. it's a decision. his wife has decided not to naturalise. he has.

makes me think about our citizenship in heaven. we belong there. no going back. we are aliens on this earth, living here only temporarily. our home is in heaven. with God. forever. fully protected by God, protected from sin, from sadness, from death. what a hope. need to hold onto that...it's so easy to go back, to want to go back, or just slip back into old ways and habits. really have to be on the ball and remember. but God is faithful. thank God for that.