New Residency

Well, I made it official today... I have a new residence: the state of Georgia. I now have a Georgia driver's license to confirm it! In a lot of ways, it feels pretty weird to say that. I've been away from home before, lived in other places, even in another country. But those have always been temporary residences; I've returned home to Pennsylvania after a predetermined period of time. This one is permanent. So permanent I opted for the 8-year driver's license!

Reality is, I don't really know how long I'll be here. That's up to God. But for now, this is my residence. I'll have to start telling people I'm from Georgia (although my accent will probably prompt further questioning). I will eventually start referring to this place as home (which my mother will hate). Atlanta will become my default Southwest airport and my default MegaBus stop on their respective apps. I've already made it my hometown on Facebook.

And slowly this new residence will begin to change my identity. It will become a part of who I am as I adapt to the way life is lived here. I might start to like new foods, or come to expect heavy traffic on a Saturday morning, or even develop a Southern accent. All because of my new residence.

But none of that will happen if I don't embrace this change. The simple act of getting a new driver's license was a HUGE step in saying, "This is where I live now." It would be so easy to view this like all the other temporary residences I've had, to live as though there's an end date for my time in Georgia. Instead, I'm choosing to view this as a permanent change until God tells me otherwise. Without that perspective, this place will have no effect on me, nor I on it.

As I type this, I can't help but think of the parallels with our Christian life. Paul tells us again and again that as believers we are now citizens of heaven. We may not dwell there physically yet, but it's still our new residence. But how often do we live as though heaven were our home? Do we let that knowledge change our identity? Do we pick up on new habits, new ways of speaking and acting? We won't if we fail to keep the perspective that this new residence is a permanent change! So do what you need to do to be a fruitful citizen-- get a driver's license; change your address; learn new roads. God wants this new residence to define who you are... so start living like a citizen of heaven!