Citizenship

Genesis 12:1-3

12 Now [in Haran] the Lord had said to Abram,

“Go away from your country,
And from your relatives
And from your father’s house,
To the land which I will show you;
² 
And I will make you a great nation,
And I will bless you [abundantly],
And make your name great (exalted, distinguished);
And you shall be a blessing [a source of great good to others];
³ 
And I will bless (do good for, benefit) those who bless you,
And I will curse [that is, subject to My wrath and judgment] the one who curses (despises, dishonors, has contempt for) you.
And in you all the families (nations) of the earth will be blessed.”

In America and many other countries, in order to take advantage of living there, you have to become a citizen of that county. I know in America, many people go through years of waiting in line and red tape in order to become an American citizen. When they finally become a citizen, happiness and a sense of belonging overwhelms those new Americans. We call ourselves ‘Americans’ because we live in the United States of America. German people live in Germany, Canadian people live in Canada, and so on. Where you live largely defines your citizenship.

Many of us think that Jewish people are Jewish because they live in Israel or have Jewish lineages in their family. Funny thing is that for myself I don’t consider myself American because I have American relatives. Let’s just say that one day, I do a genealogical study of our family and find out that 3 generations ago there was an American in our family tree. I would not consider myself American just because someone three generations ago was from America. If you look at Jewish people, this is the practice. They claim to be Jewish just because someone in their family line was Jewish. I know this is quite an over generalized example but if you think about it, most of us consider ourselves to be American or German or Irish because of where our family had lived or is living.

I know this may shock most of you, but Abraham was not Jewish. He was not even born any where near the Holy lands. The verse above is God speaking to Abraham while he was with his birth family in Ur of the Chaldeans. This is near modern day Kuwait on the shores of the Persian Gulf which is over 1000 miles from the Holy Lands. In fact, the Jewish people or “Israelites” are not even named that until Abraham’s great great grandson Jacob is renamed Israel by God himself. And get this, Israel as we know it today was not even inhabited by Jacob or his family yet. It would not be until Moses led the Israelites out of Egypt over a 1000 years later.

What am I getting at here? The Israelites became the Israelites not because of some geographic homeland like most of think now days. No! They became a nation because God chose them to holy nation. In other words, this group of people came about because of a belief system in the one true God and not because they lived in a certain area. They call themselves Jewish because their ancestry goes back to Abraham and his belief in God. Forget about the Jewish law, the Torah, and the temple. Before all that was even a thing, God chose Abraham and told him He was going to make him a great nation that blesses all of the earth. This does not mean that at some point we have to become Jewish and observe all the laws, no it is much simpler than that.

In the verses above, God was telling Abraham that He was going to send Jesus Christ to die on a cross so that the whole world could be blessed. Every tongue, every nation, every person on planet earth was on God’s mind when told Abraham to go to a land where I will show you.

Today, you can be a part of that Holy nation God was talking about by accepting Jesus as the savior of your life. Philippians 3:20 tells us, “But our citizenship is in heaven. And we eagerly await a savior from there, the Lord Jesus Christ,” God is not restricting access to Him like you have to visit a temple or be Jewish, no! All He asks is for us to follow Jesus. Are you following Him?

Prayer: Father, we may get caught up in all kinds of denominations, religions, and beliefs but I pray that we humble ourselves and follow you today forgetting about all the factions that seem to divide the body of Christ. I pray that we seek to find the Jesus of the Bible, get to know Him, and build a relationship with Him today. In Jesus name we pray, amen.