Divided Loyalties

I read one preacher tell the following story that reminded me of these ideas of citizenship and where our loyalty ultimately lies. Here’s what he says:

On the way to work this morning, I pulled up to a stop light and noticed an interesting SUV in front of me. The owner of the SUV is clearly a person of deep loyalty. The spare tire mounted on the back had the words "Texas Longhorns" and an orange, steer-head icon on it. The trailer hitch displayed another steer-head icon and the word "Texas." The license plate frame was bordered with the words "Longhorns" on top and "University of Texas" at the bottom.

But something didn't add up. That license plate frame was screwed into a blue-and-white, Illinois, "Land of Lincoln" license plate with a picture of old Abe himself on it. I live in Illinois, and the SUV's license plate shows that this driver now does, too. I assume the owner of this SUV had moved, but had not yet identified with his new home and had no plans of changing loyalties.

That's normal human behavior. When we move, we often go through a slow transition of loyalties to our new home.

And so it is as a Christian. When we come to Christ, the kingdom of HEAVEN becomes our home, but the kingdom of this world does not leave our hearts easily. The great challenge of the Christian is to overcome divided loyalties and fully identify with God's kingdom.