My Bucket List
Yesterday I left my house in anticipation of accomplishing another thing on my Bucket List—dog sledding. I recently added one more state in my quest to visit all 50 of them. And last year I was able to check off zip-lining in Costa Rica, so it seems I am narrowing down the list.
Upon arriving at Four Eagle Ranch for Beast Feast, an event sponsored by the Vail Valley Men’s Fraternity, I was delighted to find an array of delicacies prepared using wild game. Everything from elk, boar and bear were prepared in a variety of ways to tempt. All of the teams were winners in my eyes, but there was one disappointment--the dog sledding had been canceled due to the adverse weather conditions.
What I began to realize is that all of the things on my Bucket List are all about me and what I want to do or accomplish before I die. Do you see anything wrong with this? After all I am entitled to do whatever I want to do as long as it is not illegal or immoral--right? Well I have come to the conclusion that my Bucket List should not just be all about me. (Didn’t Rick Warren have something to say about that in his best selling book, The Purpose Driven Life?)In the movie, The Bucket List, Carter tells Edward that in order to get to Egyptian Heaven you must answer these two questions. Have you found joy in your life? Has your life brought joy to other people? Now don’t get me wrong, I do not think we are going to be asked those two questions in order to gain access to our eternal destiny because Jesus is the only way, but I do think they are good questions for us to ponder.
The first question, have you found joy in your life, could be a selfish question, kind of like my Bucket List. However, I also think it could have a much deeper meaning, such as did you have joy in your life because Jesus was a part of it; after all, doesn’t Jesus claim to be the giver of joy? The things that we do, experience or accomplish in our lives might bring us happiness for a time, but joy is much deeper and more lasting. It wells up from within our soul and is not dependent on situations or circumstances in our lives.
The second question, have you brought joy to other people, is about the things we have done in service to other people. Think about it, what have you done recently for someone else that had no strings attached; you did it just to bring a bit of joy to someone else? It might have been a kind word to a child, it might have been a generous gift to a complete stranger, or it could have been a selfless act of compassion to a family in need. The act of bringing joy will not allow you to gain entrance to heaven, but it is an overflow of having Jesus in your life.
Yesterday, I didn’t get to cross dog sledding off of my Bucket List, but I got something so much better. I had fellowship with wonderful people that I love, I had a fabulous feast of wild game that I didn’t have to prepare, I danced with Santa Claus, and I got to go tubing behind a snowmobile. It just doesn’t get any better than that!
Thank you Jesus that no matter what we think our plans should be, Yours are so much better.
John 15:11 I have told you this so that my joy may be in you and that your joy may be complete.
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