“Dear brothers and sisters, pattern your lives after mine, and learn from those who follow our example. For I have told you often before, and I say it again with tears in my eyes, that there are many whose conduct shows they are really enemies of the cross of Christ. They are headed for destruction. Their god is their appetite, they brag about shameful things, and they think only about this life here on earth. But we are citizens of heaven, where the Lord Jesus Christ lives. And we are eagerly waiting for him to return as our Savior. He will take our weak mortal bodies and change them into glorious bodies like his own, using the same power with which he will bring everything under his control.”
What are the patterns in your life? Would you say you are headed for destruction? Sadly I have known many people who claim to be Christians but live by their own rules. They fill every craving, focus on getting ahead, and go through one relationship after another. The more you feed your flesh the more your spirit will be destroyed. That gets you farther and farther away from Jesus.
What does it mean for you to be a citizen of heaven? What are the laws there? Sometimes people think of God as just an eternal being with a bunch of strict rules. We know from what Paul said already about circumcision that rules are absolutely not the point. God’s design for you is something far greater than this world can offer you. He’s preparing a place for you and has a brand new, glorious body ready to go.
You belong. When you accept Jesus as your Savior, you gain citizenship in an eternal kingdom. You have a home. You have a body. You are part of something bigger than just you. If you can grasp onto this sense of belonging in God’s kingdom, you will live differently. Not because God demands a bunch of rule following, but because you know what freedom is. Supernatural belonging gives you a reason not to try to belong in this world. Where are you looking to belong?