Welcome Home
Submitted by Ted Mock
April 24, 2024
Eph 2:12-13 That at that time ye were without Christ, being aliens from the commonwealth of Israel, and strangers from the covenants of promise, having no hope, and without God in the world: 13 But now in Christ Jesus ye who sometimes were far off are made nigh by the blood of Christ.
Eph 2:19 Now therefore ye are no more strangers and foreigners, but fellowcitizens with the saints, and of the household of God;
A couple of weeks ago, Jo and I returned from a trip to Costa Rica where we hosted a group from a church here in Tennessee. After two weeks in the country and working with the largest group we have ever brought to the home, we returned to the US through Miami. As we started to go through customs, everyone was divided into two lines, we were in the “Citizens Only” line.
Every time I return and see that sign, it brings a tear to my eye because I love my country, and I love coming back home. When you hand them your passport, and they ask you a few questions, they usually say, “Welcome home.” What wonderful words—Welcome home!
While in Costa Rica, the pastor told me a story about a couple who adopted a child and brought her back to the states. When she took the oath of allegiance at her naturalization ceremony, the man officiating said, “By the authority invested in me by George W. Bush, President of the United States, I now pronounce you a citizen with all the rights and privileges of citizenship.”
One of the men on the trip was listening to the story. He had been born in Ecuador, came to the US, obtained a green card, and then became a naturalized citizen. He told me that when he goes back this time, he will for the first time get in the line for citizens only.
I thought of how that one day, Someone with authority, in the name of the Father, declared me a new citizen of a heavenly country. The day I trusted Christ, my citizenship was forever changed. Now I am a stranger on a foreign land, waiting for the day I pass through a gate where I am told, “Welcome Home.”
What a day that will be!
Consider: It is so good to be known and remembered. When we walk through the Pearly Gate, everyone will be saying, “I know you!”
Smiley: I told my physical therapist that I broke my arm in two places. He told me to stop going to those places.
