The Bucket List

Are you familiar with this term? Apparently it became a worldwide metaphor through the movie with the same name in 2007, where two men (Jack Nicholson and Morgan Freeman) who are terminally ill, meet in a hospital room and join to accomplish their list of things to do before they die. Thanks to the blatant wealth of the white man Cole, they succeed largely with their primarily selfish goals: A parachute jump, driving a Shelby Mustang, visiting the Pyramids and the Taj Mahal etc. At the end though, it is the godly wishes - reconciliation, benevolence - that bring true happiness.

I am 71, and I have seriously been asked how I’m doing with my bucket list. It’s obvious that people think I should allow myself some fun while I can. What a secular notion! To think that you should die happily - and that means having done the fun things you dreamed of! In contrast, the Jesus notion is that you should be ready to die any day. It’s not about accomplishing a „bucket list“, but about accomplishing your calling. „Man’s chief end is to glorify God and to enjoy Him forever“, as the Westminster Catechism says so wonderfully.

Recently we discussed in our home group, what would change in our lives if we knew that Jesus would return tomorrow. I voted for „nothing“. Of course at my age, the question becomes more real: „Would I do anything different if I knew I would die tomorrow?“ I don’t have a bucket list. I hope to live every day according to my calling: Being a faithful servant.

May we live every day as though it was our last!