Daily Devotional

We live in a world where qualifications matter. If you are applying for a new job the necessary qualifications are always listed. When someone is running for political office, it’s often asked whether the individual is “qualified.” Buying a house? You’re going to need to be pre-qualified. Want to drive a car? You first must qualify to get a license. Even if you want to be a scuba diver you need the right qualifications!

We all understand this is just how things work. Nobody wants someone to do something that they are unqualified for. Though this is a universal truth when it comes to our day to day lives, the very opposite is true when it comes to our eternal lives. None of us are qualified to spend eternity with Jesus. No matter how hard we try, or how little bad we do, or how much good we do, or how close to perfection we can get, we still aren’t qualified. We all fall short.Thanks be to God that He doesn’t require a list of qualifications for us to follow Him. He knows we don’t measure up, so He sent Someone who did. Jesus was perfectly qualified and when we place our trust in Him, He shares those qualifications with us.

My wife and I have some family members whose dream was to eat a meal at Club 33 in Disneyland. If you’re not aware, it’s a very exclusive club with a large membership fee and an even larger waiting list. On their own they knew they had little hope of ever realizing this dream, that is until they met someone who had a Club 33 membership. Once that connection was made, it was quite easy to have a meal there. They weren’t qualified, but their friends were and that was enough to gain entrance.

You and I have absolutely no hope of entering the dwelling place of God Almighty…well, no hope based on our own qualifications. Thankfully, we can have a relationship with someone who can get us in. Jesus is qualified and by placing our faith in Him we can have a right relationship with God. It doesn’t matter who we are, it just matters who He is.

New Living Translation (NLT)
Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Inc., Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.