Wednesday, March 08, 2006

Life is Temporary

Life is temporary, at least here on earth. I was touched today by Warren's analogies for our time here on earth.

The first was that as green card holders. In our country people who come here from other countries to work, but maintain their citizenship in their country of origin need to have a green card. As Christians we are residents of God's kingdom and we maintain that citizenship even though we live and work here on earth.

The second analogy was that as ambassador's of God. Still we remain citizen's of heaven, but we are here on earth on assignment. Our loyalty, though, remains to the kingdom of God. If a U.S. ambassador is sent to somewhere like China they take on some of the cultural practices so as not to offend others, but they remain loyal to the values and customs of the U.S. If that ambassador begins valuing the customs and cultures more of that foreign country and begins to favor that country over their country of origin (U.S.) then they are no longer valuable as an ambassador. So too remains our challenge as Christians. We follow certain customs and practices of the world around us, but we remain loyal to our citizenship in heaven.

It's about gaining perspective. We are God's property. When that sinks in it seems that our struggles for popularity, trends, and other earthly recognition begins to fade away. We realize that the trappings of this life are temporary and rather insignificant, at least when compared to our eternal inheritance in God's kingdom, which has already begun...if only we can see it.

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