Recently I
watched the movie The Bucket List
with Jack Nicholson and Morgan Freeman, one of my favorite actors. When a
person realizes time is a limited commodity, using it well should become a
priority. Unfortunately what all too many don’t seem to realize is that time is
always a limited commodity. We shouldn’t have to be told we have six to twelve
months to live to understand every moment is precious and should be used
accordingly.
When does
life become so precious it can be filled only with the events that make it
worth living? Only when we reach a point where we no longer fear death can we
truly begin to live. Only those who have faced death seem able to value the
important things of life such as family, friendship, and self-sacrificing love,
relationships and not materials objects.
A follower of
Jesus Christ more than any other person should see the importance of living
each moment to its fullest. The gift of life assumes its greatest power as it
is given back to its Giver in service that glorifies its origin. Life reaches
its pinnacle of value as it is used for the glory of God and his Kingdom. A
believer’s bucket list has this purpose as its priority.
When we read
the story of the three servants in the Parables of the Talents (Matthew
25:14-30), the response of the master of the house to the three is what grabs
our attention. We dream of hearing the response of “Well done” to our own
lives. None of us want to hear, “you wicked and lazy servant.”
Looking
closer at the story, we note the servants were given no instructions on how to
use the money placed in their responsibility. They were told to go and make
more money! This was at a time when there were no loan guarantees, no
investment insurance, and little recourse to civil suits in case of fraud. They
were on their own.
Perhaps the
greatest difference in the three servants was the level of risk they were
willing to take. Two stepped out and doubled their money. The third buried his
responsibility fearful that he would lose what he had. We can say his bucket
list, if he had had one, would not have included sky diving or muscle car
racing!
Those first
disciples of Jesus were faced more than once with the choice of playing it safe
and walking away from Jesus. In the end we know of the eleven who remained
faithful, ten were martyred and one endured only through a long exile. Their
bucket list contained one primary item, remain faithful through death itself.
On one
occasion, as the crowds decided the message of Jesus was too costly, he asked
his close associates of their plans. (John 6:66-69, also consider Luke 18:28)
Their response was to say they had nowhere else to go to find the words of
life. In spite of his reputation as the Doubter, it was Thomas who said as the
brave band faced that last trip to Jerusalem, “Let us also go, that we may die
with him.” (John 11:16)
A bucket
list for a believer should begin and end with the effort to fulfill one great
command from God, “Seek first his Kingdom and his righteousness.” That will
include seeking to reflect the nature of Christ and serving as a member of his
Body. There will be no easy path to follow, no social acceptance, no praise
from the world, no masses of adoring followers. To place the Kingdom of God and
living according to his holy righteousness above all else is to face a life of
high risk and potentially deadly confrontation with the world. And there is no
vacation from it once the decision is made. (Luke 9:61-62)
Does your
bucket list contain dreams involving risks, or does it consist of watching
paint dry and grass grow? If you had hours or decades left to live, when it was
over, would the Lord of life say, “Well done, good and faithful servant”?
