I recently heard a term I wasn't familiar with: bucket list. I was reading Facebook and saw a conversation where someone was talking about their bucket list. I had to ask my wife to learn that this is a list of things people hope to do before they die. It seems the term evolved from the old cliché "to kick the bucket". I suppose I have a vivid imagination but I could just see someone walking around with a bucket trying to cram as much as they could into it.
I am reminded of the story Jesus told about the man who wanted to tear down his barns and build bigger barns to hold more of his accumulated wealth. Then Jesus said, "You fool, this very night you will be required to answer for your soul." I am sure the man's wealth meant very little to him after he stood in judgment before God.
Those of you who know me know that I love to travel. There are a whole list of places I'd like to see and things I'd like to experience. There was a time when the things I wanted to do defined everything about me. I was motivated but what I wanted to do and nothing else. If an item wasn't on my "bucket list" I considered it a waste of time no matter how important it might be.
It took me a while to realize that there were things God might have planned for me that weren't on my list. In fact, I am convinced that the best way to make God laugh is to give him a list of things we think are important. It is not that he is a callous, indifferent God. It's just that his ways are so much higher than our ways. God is truly like a parent and we are so often like children. We demand to have things the way we want them and he knows that some things are simply not good for us.
Now I am all for dreaming. I believe God wants us to better ourselves. Without a dream very little would be accomplished in this life. But we can't be so set in our dreams that we don't leave room for God to redirect our paths as he sees fit. A very popular book came out several years ago called The Purpose Driven Life. In it the author sets forth his idea about how we all need to be driven by a purpose to keep us going. It sort of sounds like that bucket list again.
Everything I have ever said I would never do I have found myself doing. I remember telling a junior high football coach that I never wanted to work as a janitor. I spent three years working as a janitor and it was a very good experience, though somewhat humbling. I told a mentor of mine that I never wanted to work with little kids. If I taught, I wanted to teach high school or college. I make my living working in Head Start. I didn't realize what a joy it can be to work with children until I was involved in it. You get the picture.
You see, the problem with making our own lists is that we usually set our sights to low. God wants us to prosper. He designed each of us with a purpose. But only he knows what all that purpose will encompass. A bucket will be way to small to hold all the good things He has for us if we yield our lives to Him.
Lord, help me not to limit myself to a bucket list. The sky is the limit with you in control. Amen.
Prayerfully Yours,
Sullivan Jones
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