We all have some idea of what it takes to be a good citizen in the country in which we live, even the state or city.  We have laws that we must obey to the best of our ability (even those pesky ones, like speed limits).  We get to know the rules regarding operating a business, and adhere to them as an owner, and hold owners accountable to the regulations that were agreed upon.  We try our best to honor the public servants, who are often our neighbors, such as the local fire and police officers, and call on them when the need arises.  We try to get to know our neighborhood schools and attend the sporting games of our children.  We vote when an election comes up, trying our best to understand the issues at hand.  So: What about God’s Kingdom?  We have laws in this kingdom too, and we try our best to keep them.  If we do not, we have a gracious King and can appeal to his mercy – over and over again as needed.  We have work to accomplish, and it is organized according to the dictates of God’s Holy word.  We try our best to know the guidelines for responsible leadership and giving and caring.  We try our best to honor those who serve, and join them when the need arises.  We try our best to know our neighbors, and to love them in tangible ways.  We actually love to invite others to join the community with us – the more the merrier.  We don’t vote, exactly, but we dig deeply in the truths of God and the world he made, and we encourage stimulating reasoning together about the important issues of life.  We vote with our very lives, the way we live each day.  There are some similarities here.  Differences too.  I spend my days trying my best to be a good citizen of both my country of birth, and my Kingdom of my new birth.  I have found that what I do in this country, in my day to day life, has enormous ramifications in God’s Kingdom, both now and into eternity.  Isn’t that amazing?

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