Qualified where it counts

I received a letter yesterday with my name handwritten on the envelope, informing me I had qualified for two free airline tickets totaling $1,220 to anywhere in the world. The letter assured me there was nothing I had to buy: I was qualified, no strings attached.

This was wonderful and timely news, and my husband and I knew exactly where we would use these passes—for two round-trip tickets to Jacksonville, Fla., to see his very sick, 84-year-old mother. I called the number on the announcement immediately.

The woman answering the phone confirmed I had indeed qualified for this largesse, and that it was a promotion offered with no other motive than the hope that I will use this airline again at some time in the future. All that was required of me was to go to a certain location and watch a video. I was in like Flynn.

Just as the deal seemed closed, my benefactor posed three questions to me, almost as an afterthought, the last of which was an inquiry into my salary bracket. The answer I gave must have been the wrong one because our conversation was quickly over, and the very nice lady was suddenly very busy and had to go.

But the Word of God spoke to me about “… giving thanks to the Father, who has qualified you to share in the inheritance of the saints in light” (Colossians 1:12).

The Greek word translated “qualified” is hikanos, which means “fit” or “adequate” or “sufficient” or “enough.”

“Not that we are sufficient in ourselves to claim anything as coming from us, but our sufficiency is from God, who has made us sufficient …” (2 Corinthians 3:5).

It turns out I am not “qualified” with this airline, but I am “qualified” with God. Christ has given His own life in my stead, and whenever I read his letter from the Father I encounter no trickery or disqualifying fine print, and He cares not what salary bracket I am in. More than that, He cares not what sin “bracket” He found me in, but bids as the murderer, thief, and liar come as readily as the person of unspectacular sins.