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Things to do Before You Die
By Alan Dodd.
Apparently, people are into making lists. Particularly, lists of things to do - even more, lists of things to do before you die! What is your list like? (If you have one...)
One thing 'to do before you die' is to swim with dolphins. Other things on some people's lists are things that everyone else does but would prefer not to do! Such as buy a useless electrical appliance.
There are things which would be 7th heaven for some - like a visit to a Disney theme park - but then for others that might feel like some form of medieval torture!
I have done some of the things on people's lists many times, such as spend a whole day watching the extended version of all 3 Lord of the Rings movies back-to-back!
But there's something sad about such lists. The lists are really telling us that the importance of life is made up of doing things - but even more - it is saying loud and clear that if you haven't completed your list by the time you die, then you haven't lived.
This puts great pressure on people. And we see it in the way that most people have a sort of ideal life that they want. Get a good education, a great job, get married, have a house, have children, have grandchildren, retire early and cruise round the world, live long and have a healthy life.
The problem with this list is what happens when it's derailed? Because the chances are very high that it will. You'll miss out on all sorts of things during your life. There will be plenty of incomplete ambitions and dreams before you die. One liberating thing about the Christian faith is that this life is not an end in itself. It is only a beginning.
And if our hope in Christ is only for this life, we are more to be pitied than anyone in the world. But in fact, Christ has been raised from the dead. He is the first of a great harvest of all who have died. 1 Cor 15:19-20
Because we have the promise that our life doesn't finish at the grave, the pressure is off this life. If we fail then it is not a cosmic disaster; we know our future life with Christ in heaven will more than compensate for the disasters or failed dreams we encounter here. This gives us enormous freedom! We no longer have to be driven by our lists of things to do, we are no longer fearful of messing things up, because in the end this life is only the preface, the first page of a book that goes on for ever - as long as we have made that most important of all decisions, to accept Christ as our Saviour and Lord. Then all the other issues become secondary.
Labels: Goals, Life, Perspective
