FELLOW CITIZENS
FELLOW CITIZENS
VIVE LA FRANCE!!!
France won the FIFA 2018 World Cup!
Ok. I know this is no longer headline news. Still…
VIVE LA FRANCE!
And indeed their day of glory arrived, there at the Luzhniki Stadium in Moscow on the 15th day ofJuly, 2018.
I gasped when I saw the line-up of the French National Team that led the country to glory. France is a very multi-racial and multi-cultural society. And it was very evident in that line-up. So when each member of the team walked up to their President, Mr Emmanuel Macron, for a hand shake at the award ceremony the colours of their skin or their pedigree or their origin did not matter , they were there not as foreigners, but as fellow citizens of France along with Mr Macron. And this is all very wonderful and heart -warming. But quite honestly I cannot tell you that this is indeed the reality with other immigrants in France or in other parts of Europe.
Incidentally, as believers we were once all in the same situation as some of the members of the French national team. ( At least the ones who were originally immigrants). Oh yes – we the “Gentiles”. “In those days you were living apart from Christ. You were excluded from citizenship among the people of Israel, and you did not know the covenant promises God had made to them. You lived in this world without God and without hope”. Ephesians 2:12 NLT
We were once totally alienated from God. We were strangers. We were sinners. We were outsiders. We had no relationship whatsoever with Him. We were not entitled to anything. No security, no health benefits. Nothing at all. But God did not leave us as outcasts. He had compassion on us and brought us into the fold. “But now you have been united with Christ Jesus. Once you were far away from God, but now you have been brought near to Him through the blood of Christ.” Ephesians 2: 13 NLT
We now have direct access to God our Heavenly Father through Jesus Christ our Saviour. Jesus saved us from a life doomed to condemnation and everlasting damnation by being condemned to a horrible, torturous, shameful and absolutely humiliating death on a cross. Now our status has changed. Yipeee yaaay! All benefits of children accrue to us. We are heirs – Joint-heirs with Jesus Christ. We can come boldly and ask our “Heavenly Daddy” questions. We can tell Him things. It does not have to be complicated. Our “Heavenly Daddy” is totally approachable. Did you see how President Macron held some of those guys and seemed to speak intimately with and to them? We have a “Daddy” that expects us to be intimate with Him on all levels. I know that after that award ceremony in Moscow it might not be quite possible for any of those guys to just stroll into Mr Macrons office in France or pay him an unscheduled visit at home. But with our “Heavenly Daddy” there is no protocol to be observed. Come to Him whenever and wherever. “All those the Father gives me will come to me, and whoever comes to me I will never drive away.” John 6: 37 NIV Tell Him why you sing and dance but also tell Him why you soak your pillow at night with tears as you sob quietly. Tell Him what a friend, a brother, a sister, your mother, your father, a colleague, an employer, an employee, a sports coach, a bus driver, a spouse or anyone did to you that you did not like. He wants you to be free with Him.
He bids us come. “Then Jesus said, “Come to me, all of you who are weary and carry heavy burdens, and I will give you rest.” Matthew 11: 28 NLT
Our citizenship will never be in question when we pitch our tents with Jesus. We will not have to apply for rights of abode or Stays or whatever else people need to become legal immigrants of another country.
“Now therefore ye are no more strangers and foreigners, but fellowcitizens with the saints, and of the household of God”. Ephesians 2: 19KJV
OLUYINKA EGO-MARTINS©