Weekly Devotional: Living As a Citizen of Heaven

“So then you are no longer strangers and aliens, but you are fellow citizens with the saints, and are of God’s household” (Ephesians 2:19)

Have you ever been homesick? Maybe you went to summer camp for the first time, took a trip to a foreign country or moved away from home to go to college. During these times like this, you feel sad and long to be back at home with your family and the comforts of home. This is a natural response to being away from home for a long period of time. Believe it or not, we often feel this way about our heavenly home as well.

There are often times in life when we wish to be home, in our real home with God. This does not imply a death wish, but rather a longing for completeness and fullness in God. In Ephesians, Paul talks about our citizenship in Heaven saying, “so then you are no longer strangers and aliens, but you are fellow citizens with the saints, and are of God’s household.” While we have only ever known life on earth, it is not our home.

Our life on earth is similar to a camping trip. It is uncomfortable, dirty and temporary. We spend time on earth for a little while, but our ultimate home is with God in Heaven. If we are truly citizens of Heaven, shouldn’t we act like it? Knowing we are children of God and that this world is not our home should change our perspective on life.

Things that would normally bother people don’t have to bother us because we know that this life is not forever. A while back, the popular term many teens coined was “YOLO” or you only live once. This mantra for the millennial generation is simply not true. This life is not all we have. We have eternity in Heaven. This is not to say we should waste our life, we shouldn’t, but perhaps we don’t need to get so caught up in living for the world. When we view this life as temporary, the pains, troubles, trends and petty issues of this life seem much less important in relation to living and loving like Jesus.

Grand Canyon University is committed to living for Jesus wholeheartedly. If you would like to learn more about GCU’s Christian identity and heritage or would like to read more devotionals please visit our website and check out the GCU Blog.