Monday, July 26, 2010

Citizenship

This morning I attended the citizenship ceremony of a friend from church.  I found it an interesting process.

Before the proceedings began the clerk of the court gave us instructions and an idea of what would be happening during the ceremony.  Some of these instructions were of a serious nature - for instance, each of the people taking the oath had to repeat the affirmation clearly.  The clerk of the court even wandered around a bit during this part of the ceremony looking for anyone who wasn't repeating the words after the judge.  If she had found someone, that person would have been held back after the rest of the ceremony and made to go through it again with the judge individually.

One of the things that I found particularly interesting was that the Honorable Judge who presided over the ceremony was herself an immigrant who is now a Canadian citizen.  I did not catch what country the judge was from but she had quite a thick accent.

This citizenship ceremony reminded me that I have gone through a ceremony that covers my citizenship - not of a country on earth but rather as a citizen of heaven where my Heavenly Father awaits my entrance.  On May 30, 1965, I swore allegiance to my Heavenly Father and became a citizen of heaven.

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

During today's citizenship ceremony 15 countries were represented by 35 adults and children.  There are also people from every tribe, tongue and nation who have made the decision to become a citizen of Heaven.  No one who wants to become a citizen of Heaven will be rejected.

So today I celebrate with my friend as she is now a citizen of Canada.  I also celebrate because both my friend and I are also citizens of a much more important and magnificent place - Heaven.

Celebrate your citizenship today.  I hope you are a dual citizen of a country here on earth and more importantly of heaven.

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