Devotional:Citizenship in Heaven: Philippians 3:15-21

It has been said, “Our attitude determines our altitude.” The grades that a student in school receives are determined more by attitude than ability. I know this from my own experiences in school. In high school my grades are quite lower that what they could be. I have the God-given ability. I have teachers, family, and classmates that know that I have the ability to be at the top of the class. For various reasons I do not have the right attitude toward school work. Unlike my brothers and sisters before me, I am more interested in sports. Now this is not totally a bad thing because I have learned so much from sports that have helped me to live a quality life. The facts remain that my attitude towards school work limited my altitude in academics.

The book of Philippines is a book about attitudes. The writer, Paul the apostle of Jesus Christ finds himself in prison. He knows that there is a strong possibility that he will be executed by the emperor of Roman. In Philippians, Paul writes to the church to explain his attitude about preaching the gospel of Jesus Christ. He has to sort through what his life as a Pharisee accomplished for him compared to his hope based on his life as an apostle of Jesus Christ. He has to sort through his feelings about death and continued living. He concludes that he will continue to reach for the mark that God calls him to. Every decision is made based on his attitude.

Paul tells the church to keep the attitude to live by the standards that they have attained (Phil. 1:16). Their attitude will help them to walk according to the hope that they have in Christ Jesus. They ought not to be content with what can be accomplished in this life. They are to live with the attitude of a person whose citizenship is no longer in the world. Their citizenship is in heaven. They are not there yet, but Jesus Christ “will transform the body of our humble state into conformity with the body of His glory, by the exertion of the power that He has even to subject all things to Himself” (3:21, NASB).

Prayer: Lord Jesus we pray that our attitude will be to live for you in faith and hope. Amen.