Citizenship
How does it make you feel to attend a sporting event and have someone do a less than honorable job of performing our national anthem, The Star-Spangled Banner? I don’t know about you, but that really insults me because I love my country.
My wife, Mickie, and I were in Bangladesh when she became very ill. I had to leave her in the care of our housekeeper as I traveled off to the bush. When I came back, the housekeeper was rubbing cut lemons on Mickie’s forehead to treat her fever and they were singing together. I asked Mickie what song they were singing because it was in Bangla. Mickie said it was the Bengali national anthem, Amar Shonar Bangla, or My Golden Bengal.
We laughed but then I realized that housekeeper was just as proud of her country as I am proud of my own. Somehow through the years the significance of our American flag, saying the Pledge of Allegiance and reciting The Star-Spangled Banner has lost some of its meaning. We need to stand united as Americans and be proud of this great nation.
As Christians, though, we also need to be proud of the fact that we are citizens in the kingdom of God. We are reminded in Philippians 3:20:
“But our citizenship is in heaven. And we eagerly await a Savior from there, the Lord Jesus Christ.”
Let us be proud of our American citizenship, but let us not be too attached to this nation, for our real citizenship is in heaven. Today, focus your sights upon Him and strive to encourage others to become citizens in the kingdom of God.
