Qualified

I’m preparing to study Colossians, and had another sweet grandson analogy. Colossians 1:9-12 includes a prayer and says,

“For this reason we also,

since the day we heard it,

do not cease to pray for you,

and to ask that you may be filled with the knowledge of His will

in all wisdom and spiritual understanding;

that you may walk worthy of the Lord,

fully pleasing Him,

being fruitful in every good work

and increasing in the knowledge of God;

strengthened with all might,

according to His glorious power,

for all patience and longsuffering with joy;

giving thanks to the Father

who has qualified us to be partakers

of the inheritance of the saints in the light.”

May it be!

I’ve been meditating on this last part – the fact that God qualified us. So when my son-in-law held up my 17 month old grandson’s new soccer jersey and ball (that came with registration), I saw it as such a picture of this. Obviously my grandson did not sign himself up. He did not qualify, but his dad qualified him by doing all that was necessary to make it happen. What our Father did to qualify us was unthinkable, sending His Son to die on our behalf. We had nothing to do with our own qualification.

Clearly, we have not been qualified to play sports, but to be joint-heirs with Jesus. What He has done – what He has qualified us for – is beyond what we would know to ask or think. Our Father’s grace, mercy, and joy in blessing His children makes me want to celebrate and serve Him all the more. He has qualified all who will receive His free gift of salvation! May this prayer above be true of us all.