Luke 23 & John 18-19
At the time this devotion is being written the election for the president of the United States will take place in five days. As American Christians the realities of democracy, patriotism, and freedom run deep in our veins. The way Jesus describes his kingdom to Pilate in John 18 is something not only each American Christian needs to be reminded of but each Christian wherever they live needs to be reminded of. As Christians our primary citizenship is not the country we currently reside in, it is the kingdom of God.
Jesus says to Pilate in John 18.36, “My kingdom is not of this world”. “Not of this world” means, not of this present world system. The kingdom Jesus presides over operates in a totally different realm than the kingdoms of this present evil age do. And because we belong to God this means we are citizens of a different kingdom (Phil. 3.20). We are citizens of the kingdom of God first then citizens of our natural country second.
While all of us are saturated with the current country and culture we live in, we should remember, our citizenship is with the kingdom of God primarily and we are to live out the kingdom life in whatever context we live in. As followers of Christ our lives are to be lived against the grain of the current ways of life, just like how Jesus said his servants wouldn’t fight over him because they belonged to a kingdom that was not of this world
-Jacob Rohrer
Today’s Bible passages can be read at BibleGateway here – Luke 23 & John 18-19
Tomorrow we will read Matthew 28 and Mark 16.
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