The Red Card

Yesterday our Life Group began studying 1 Peter. As you might expect, we began at the beginning, in the first chapter, where Peter has a lot to say to us about all that is ours because of our relationship with Christ Jesus, a relationship he describes as our living hope.

"Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who according to His great mercy has caused us to be born again to a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus from the dead."  (1 Peter 1:3 NASB)

This morning, thinking about that living hope stirred up a memory from our life on the road last year, a memory of the red card.  Last Labor Day weekend, we were in Greensboro, NC, with just a few stops left on our road trip before we could [finally] head home.

In the weeks we had been on the road, we had stayed in more than thirty different hotels.  Most of those hotels were Marriott properties.

Because my husband travels a lot and spends a lot of time in Marriott hotels, he has achieved Platinum Elite status with that particular hotel chain.  As a result, our room key cards at Marriot hotels are platinum and are marked platinum elite, and those key cards give access to things like the Concierge Lounge (when one is available) and free coffee and other perks. Last Labor Day weekend, we had a platinum card.

But at the previous hotel, the one in Maryland, we didn't get a platinum key card. We got a red card. It gave the same access. Free breakfast. Free dessert. Free coffee. The only difference was that it was red.

As Christians we have a red card of a different kind. Our red card access comes through the blood of Jesus, shed for our sins.

Because of that shed blood, we are in an eternal relationship with the Savior who offered His own blood on our behalf. And because of that shed blood, we now have access to an eternity in Heaven in the presence of the One who shed His blood for us.

That is infinitely better than free breakfast!


"Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places in Christ.......In Him we have redemption through His blood, the forgiveness of our trespasses, according to the riches of His grace which He lavished on us."  (Ephesians 1:3, 7-8b NASB)