More than a decade ago, I arrived in this city far away from my hometown. It happens all of a sudden that I am almost unable to grasp the impending feeling of alienation in the city.
I left behind a very close-knitted family and relatives all living around the vicinity as well as a small job which I hold dearly. It was for a university education.
When I graduated from university, I ended up facing another setback for my immediate future.
So, I worked in the MNCs while preparing for a better job with good security and facilities. Well, by the grace of God, I had succeeded in due time although I had to give up my job for my children.
And here that’s not what I intended to tell you. It was the experience of staying or living in a place far from home and among another race with so many dissimilarities yet possessing the same human heart.
In due course of time, the experience is too many to tell. My university days are better records as we are able to converse in simple English as a common language inside the campus.
The people here are, although it might sound a bit racist, of another race and different belief system. Living among the Indo-Aryan and Dravidian races make me quite aloof even in my physical appearances especially when you are in the minority section of the population.
However, it should be noted that I had met some very good people in my workplace and throughout my stay. Otherwise, it is people trying to take advantage of you by our looks and less efficiency in using the local language. I remember instances where friends face an embarrassment because of possessing a Mongolian feature.
Nevertheless, we are living in our own country in the capital city of India, which is New Delhi. Talking about differences, we look different, of different races, never nearing each other but we possessed the same citizenship. And for now, I wanted to put it aside as I would like to introduce you to the message I wanted to pass on.
Still today there is a feeling of alienation and a reminder of being stranger and foreigner in one’s own country. We may be a citizen of a country not of the earth forever, but citizenship of heaven in the abiding grace of God.
No longer Strangers and Foreigner:
There are instances where we feel under the pressure of what is happening around us which eventually affects our being.
The more we try to stay grounded with the ways of the world it is more difficult. Mankind is simply waging wars on each other. It is under the rule of the dark. There are wars civil wars with guns and bullets, economically trying to destabilize other countries or regions worldwide, ideological wars of radicals or left and right wings on a larger scale.
In the meantime, it is hard to pass a day without observing or reading about hate crimes and the likes. All people are trying to make their niche in their own way. In other words, we all wanted to be real owners of the world and be its citizens treasuring all are resources.
However, the holy Bible tells us we are not citizens of this world. Thus we felt as if strangers and foreigners in one way or the other. Christ has paid the price for our citizenship in heaven for once this world will get burned. We have peace with God in Jesus’ name.
Our Citizenship:
We are Citizenships of Heaven – there’s more no Gentiles, no races, no boundaries in the blood of the Lamb.
We are all God’s people if we believe in the sacrificial work of Jesus Christ accepting him as the Son of God and took him as our personal Savior proclaiming our faith in him through our mouth and inside our hearts.
Here I put in verses from the Apostle Paul’s letter to the Ephesians and Philippians:
Consequently, you are no longer foreigners and strangers, but fellow citizens with God’s people and also members of his household, Ephesian 2:19
But our citizenship is in heaven. And we eagerly await a Savior from there, the Lord Jesus Christ, who, by the power that enables him to bring everything under his control, will transform our lowly bodies so that they will be like his glorious body. Philippians 3:20
We are not citizens of this world.
We are simply strangers and foreigners, for now. Let’s march on towards the promises of God without fear!
[P.S This is an excerpt from one of the chapters from my latest book titled “Walking Outside the Garden.”]
