“May you be strengthened with all power, according to His glorious might, for all endurance and patience with joy, giving thanks to the Father, Who has qualified you to share in the inheritance of the saints in light. He has delivered us from the domain of darkness and transferred us to the kingdom of His beloved Son, in Whom we have redemption, the forgiveness of sins.” Col. 1:11-14
Devotional Thought For The Day
There is little better than starting the day out reflecting on the wondrous love of God and the huge blessings that He has poured out on us in Christ Jesus, and continues to pour out on us. There are all kinds of things that we have to become “qualified” for if we are to be afforded the privilege of “participating” in them, whether to make a living or simply to enjoy them. Professionals need to get licensure to practice law, medicine, counseling, architecture, building, and many other things. If we are going to work in hazardous professions we also need licensure, for working with electricity, water, driving heavy equipment. The simple privilege of driving a car on public streets requires licensure. Even preachers, in most churchly groups, need some form of licensure, and a process whereby one becomes proficient and then is “qualified” to perform the work of preaching and teaching. In the world, and for work in the world, being “qualified” is a matter of our own hard work, our learning, and then passing some test. The burden is on the individual, the qualifications are “earned,” and have to do with our performance – although the Giver of all gifts, including abilities and accomplishments, is also God.
When we look at the choice of words that the Holy Spirit moved the writers of Holy Scripture to make, and how they were moved to phrase ideas and concepts – realities about God, about us, about the world, and about our relationship with God – the clarity is amazing, but not nearly as amazing as the principles. Consider these verses, that “the Father has qualified you to share in the inheritance of the saints in light.” You didn’t do it, He did. You didn’t pass some test or do anything that made you qualified; He has qualified you for something astronomically beautiful and important, something that fills us with immeasurable comfort, confidence, and eagerness – “the inheritance of the saints in light.” There is nothing higher for human beings to hope for, to aspire to, to aim at – and yet it is God Who has qualified us for this, to share this, to have this. And lest we think that such “qualification” has to do with our performance, the Holy Spirit makes clear what such qualification involves and how it is provided. It is by means of His Son Jesus Christ, the redemption He provided in His self-sacrifice of atonement; and the nature of it, what makes us qualified is “the forgiveness of sins.” That plain, that simple, that clear. Knowing this, who would not break into praise and glorification of God, filled with joy, thanksgiving, and humble love and devotion to God?
A cosmic change has already been made in Christians – they have been transferred from the domain of darkness and into the kingdom of the Lord Jesus Christ. The qualification evokes movement, conversion; so that those who grasp the light of God’s love are moved into that light. Who does this? Who accomplishes this? Once again it is God Who has delivered us from the domain of darkness, our heavenly Father Who has “transferred” us, moved us into the kingdom of His beloved Son, by shining the light of His glorious love into our hearts, to give us the knowledge of His glory in the face of Jesus Christ. [2 Cor. 4:6] This He does and accomplishes by His own power and might, through His Word [Rom. 10:17] and Baptism [John 3:5; Acts 2:38; Tit. 3:5], by His gracious mercy and love alone without any performance from us. We have simply received, His grace and His ministry to us, and we rejoice in His love, His forgiveness, His eternal salvation, and our inheritance as saints in light, solely because of what He has done for us in both “qualifying” us and “transferring” us. Again, the clarity of communication and the principles of God’s gracious love and salvation are quite amazing!
So join me this morning in standing in awe of God and His love. Join me in giving Him heartfelt praise and thanksgiving. Join me in starting out the day with a confidence based on God’s love, His grace here and now and the inheritance that He has already given to us in the kingdom of His beloved Son. You still live and move and have being in this fallen world of sin and darkness [which is passing away], but you go out into the world as children of the light, and all that you do reflects and beams that glorious light. It will be a beautiful and blessed day!
Prayer For The Day
Dear Heavenly Father, thanks and praise be to You for all of Your great love for us and all that You have done for us in Christ Jesus, Your beloved Son, our beloved Savior and Lord. Grant that we may indeed be strengthened with all power, according to Your glorious might, with all endurance and patience with joy. For Your blessings and gracious glory we are forever thankful. Amen.