Jus Soli

Where were you born? I suppose anymore it doesn't matter. The world is again flat and if you can make it here, you can make it anywhere.

"And of Zion it shall be said, This and that man was born in her: and the highest Himself shall establish her. The Lord shall count, when He writeth up the people, that this man was born there. Selah. As well the singers as the players on instruments shall be there: all my springs are in Thee." (Psalm 87:5-7)

The other day, for passport reasons, I had to reorder my birth certificate. It hasn't yet arrived and as I moved last year, the original got lost in the shuffle. I must have let it slip through the cracks, thinking (as I was pretty meticulous with my stuff) that I really wouldn't need it. But I do need it. I need it to go to Japan, apparently. And so, with some (comparatively) marginal fees, I am able to reobtain something that shows to others that I am a real person. A REAL PERSON. A piece of paper. Thank God my personhood means more to Him than a mere fifty bucks.

"And again the anger of the Lord was kindled against Israel, and He moved David against them to say, Go, number Israel and Judah." (2 Samuel 24:1)

A senseless census

Real quick, I don't fully understand when the Old Testament says things like that. Where it would seem God was the one who "inspired" David to do what he did. That is, take a census and that was met with dire consequences. Perhaps there's a stipulation in the official guidelines of Old Testament writing where the devil isn't mentioned and God takes the blame for both the bad and the good? The Sons of Korah (above, in Psalm 87) mention God Himself as the one who tallies up the locals. And the passage from Samuel being one where, it would seem, a temptation to control and know more than necessary was conflagrated in the heart of David. Either way, "Say not in thine heart, Who shall ascend into Heaven? (that is, to bring Christ down from above:)" (Romans 10:6b) This, I think, is the distinction and the delineation, if that makes sense. Anymore, it really doesn't matter where you're from. Jesus has come and died and risen and the whole world--boundary lines notwithstanding--is open to receive what He has to give.

Where jus soli differs from the above elucidation is in the acknowledgment of other places than here on earth. No, not Venus or Mars (and not Pluto, either). But Heaven. Jus soli means that you have a right to citizenship purely by having been born in whatever country (or state) in which your mother gave birth to you. But with a believer in Jesus Christ, we have another home. And we're just here, passing through.

"For here have we no continuing city, but we seek one to come." (Hebrews 13:14)

All the rights of Heaven are yours as a believer. We have the Father's ear. His undivided attention and also His blessing for bringing His atmosphere, the very heart of Jesus, into our world. And when it says "all my springs are in Thee", this, I believe, is what that refers to. Whatever we need to realize the atmosphere of Heaven will spring from God's heart through ours. Purely by virtue of being "born again" (2 Peter 1:23).

I Am Not Making This Up

Hopeful Monsters