#DailyDevotion Christian, Our Nation Has No Borders & Is Not In Or, Of This World
Psalm 33 12Blessed is the nation whose God is the LORD, the people He chose to be His own.
Different countries at times claim to be Christian countries. At best, they may claim a majority of their inhabitants are Christians. There has only been one nation “whose God is the LORD, the people He chose to be His own.” Please note the last clause which defines the first–”the people He chose to be His own.” That nation is the nation of ancient Israel (the modern state of Israel is not it). It is written, Deut. 33, “29Happy Israel! Who is like you, a people saved by the LORD, Who is a Shield to help you and a Sword to win you glory?” But that nation is no more.
Yet that nation, that people does still exist. A Christian nation does exist in this world. It does not have borders. It has no army but that of the heavenly angels. It’s only ruler is Jesus Christ, the Son of God, the Son of David. Peter writes in his first epistle, chapter 2, “9But you are a chosen people, priests of the King, a holy nation, a people saved to be His own and to tell of the wonderful deeds of Him Who called you out of darkness into His marvelous light. 10Once you were not a people, but now you are God’s people. Once you had received no mercy, but now you have received mercy. 11Dear friends, I urge you, as guests and strangers in this world:…” As you can see, we Christians are a people, a nation of saints, called and chosen by God in Christ Jesus, yet strangers, foreigners in this age, living among the nations with no place in this world to call our own. We wait and look for a heavenly country, the New Heavens and New Earth.
It is those whom God has chosen in Christ Jesus who is the nation whose God is the LORD, the people He chose to be His own and no other. No country on earth can make the claim God has chosen them. His holy people are strangers in this world because they are citizens of Heaven. It would do us well to remember where our citizenship truly is, no matter what country may try to call us its own.
Yet, while we are sojourning in this age, we are called to honor those who God has placed in positions of power as rulers over nations, states, provinces, counties, and cities. He tells us to pay whatever taxes the governments we live under demand of us. As long as the laws do not tell us to go against the will of God revealed in the Scriptures we are to obey them. The people of the country where we have residence should be able to look at our lives and admire us for being “good citizens” while we are not actually citizens of the land. No one among us should be charging us with law-breaking unless those laws command us to sin against God and our LORD Jesus Christ. As the apostles have written to us, we should live such good lives that those who slander us will be ashamed of their accusations on the Last Day. May the LORD our God, by His good Holy Spirit enable us to live such lives in this world.
Heavenly Father, we thank You for choosing us to be Your holy people in Christ Jesus. May Your blessing always be upon us. Grant us your Holy Spirit that we live good and honest lives in this world and the nations You place us, that men may glorify Your name and the name of Your Son Jesus Christ. In Jesus’ name we pray. Amen.