Am I Good Enough to Make It Into Heaven?

I have only tried out for two athletic teams in my life, and both times I was not good enough.

The first was when I was eight years old. I wanted to play for a local baseball league. I worked my butt off to make that team during the week-long tryouts, but honestly, I was too inexperienced. I could not field the ball if my life hung in the balance and hitting was equivalent to asking me to walk on water. My singular catch during tryouts was while I was playing first base. A line drive was hit directly at my head. I closed my eyes and covered my face with my glove, and when I opened my eyes, to my surprise, there was a ball in my glove! One catch is not enough to make the team. I remember getting the call from the coach. He apologized profusely and delivered the bad news. My organized baseball career ended at eight. I was not good enough to make it.

The second time I was cut from a team was in high school. I tried out for the varsity basketball team. There were 15 spots available and 17 of us trying out. I gave it my all, but I just was not in the right condition and did not possess enough skill. On the last day of tryouts, the coach stopped me before entering the gym, brought me off into a dark hallway, and delivered the news. "Ivey," he said with compassion in his voice, "I know you tried hard, but you didn't make it." I went home dejected. To compound the shame of it all, I was the only one that didn't make the team. The other player who should have been cut was made into the equipment manager. Oh well. Again, I was not good enough.

It's not all bad news. I went on to play for my church basketball league (i.e., the basketball rejects). This was a team where I did not have to try out. I just had to play. And I played with a chip on my shoulder. I lit it up and was one of our top scorers. I was finally good enough for the reject league!

Maybe you've had an experience similar to that with a team, job, or college. It hurts to give your all, try your best, but just not be good enough to make the cut. Sports are one thing, but we would all hate to get to Heaven one day, have tried our best, but we get the news that we just were not good enough to make the cut.

Tomorrow we look at how we can know we are going to make the cut the day we stand before God. If you ever have concerns and questions about your standing on judgment day, tomorrow is going to be genuinely helpful for you.