Qualified for the Kingdom?

The Paris Olympics are drawing closer.  For me, it’s just plain exciting.  I expect there is nervous excitement amongst the athletes.  Do you remember some years ago when, in their excitement, the Australian women’s relay time leapt into the pool to celebrate their victory?  They were subsequently disqualified and lost their prize. 

All too often we hear of elite athletes disqualified for drug abuse.  Or politicians disqualified for improper morals or ethics.  In a different way a student or scholar can be disqualified from their ambitions due to poor grades.  Many of us have sat nervously in a bank manager’s office wondering whether we have qualified for that loan we have applied for.

There are many checks and balances we go through in life.  The difference between qualifying and being disqualified can dramatically alter our outlook on life, and our ‘in-look’ on how we perceive ourselves.  In a world that often diminishes self-esteem, to be ‘qualified’ and celebrated can be a rare blessing.

Sometimes the most difficult disqualification might come from our own parents, brothers and sisters, or close friends.  To feel like you have not made the mark or have irreparably disqualified yourself from respect or relationship can be disillusioning and demeaning.

Such feelings need not exist in the kingdom of God.  Our heavenly Father doesn’t think that way.  Neither should brothers and sisters in the family of God.  Because where brokenness and failure might seek to disqualify, the grace of God heals and restores so that even the weakest qualify.  Paul prays the Colossians are “strengthened with all power according to his glorious might so that you may have great endurance and patience, and joyfully giving thanks to the Father, who has qualified you to share in the inheritance of the saints in the kingdom of light.”  All who turn to the Lord and receive His grace are always worthy in His eyes.  That’s what grace is all about.  In the Kingdom of God there is no such thing as disqualification.