Celebrate life

My wife and I had dinner with some friends from church the other night and the subject of our going to the Holy Land and then later in the year traveling to Greece and following the journey of Paul came up. I told them that I was really excited about these trips and that both were on my list of 100 things to do before I die.

They queried me about my list. I told them that many years ago I met a very wealthy man, (billionaire), who suggested to me that I make a list of 100 worthwhile things that I want to do before I die and work hard to achieve them. Even at a relatively young age I was already utilizing goals in my life; however I had never developed a specific list of 100 major accomplishments that I would like to make prior to exiting this planet. I took his advice and every year since then I have tried to achieve various things on my list. I related to this couple that in fact just this year I had to revise the list because I had already accomplished many things on my old list and some of them had to be removed because they were no longer relevant or achievable. I am now working off a fresh list, (redesigned just this year), of things I consider to be worthwhile goals.

I asked them if they had a list of things that they would like to accomplish before they died. They replied that they did not and the impression I got was that they were not interested in the least in so doing. I realize that different people have different interests, but it amazes me that someone does not have even one goal in all of life to pursue; no spiritual goals, no personal goals, no financial goals, no career goals, no travel goals, no goals of any kind. I did not belabor it and quickly changed the subject, but I felt like saying, “Wouldn’t you like to lead just one person to Christ before you leave this earth?”

I urge you to make a list of worthwhile things that you want to accomplish before you die. Mine have been all over the board. One of my goals is to go through the Bible with the J. Vernon McGee series again. It took me two years the last time I read this series, because he explains nearly every verse in the Bible in great detail including the history of what was going on at the time, who the various peoples and tribes were and what they believed, etc. It is extremely interesting and I cannot wait until the evening time that I have set aside for studying it in order that I might enjoy going through this magnificent series again.

I am pursuing a goal to catch every species of marlin in the world, to visit many distant lands, to write books, to learn digital photography, to play guitar in a blues band and in church, to open an art gallery and sell some of my own creations in it, to become a philanthropist, to assist with leading large numbers of people to Christ, help build a large church in the Florida Keys, to get certified in diving, to buy a farm, and on and on and on.

When I get up in the morning much is on my mind. How about you? Are you like my friends who do not have a singular goal or mission in life? Or are you like me and have a genuine concern that you have so much to do and so little time to achieve it that you just might run out of time before you achieve all of your goals? I truly believe that God wants us to make the most out of this life. God’s own work never stops and we are to emulate Him. If you want to see what God is working on, take a look around. Take a look at the universe. Google the Hubble telescope tonight and view the images that are located trillions of light years beyond our tiny planet. View the delicate orchid, a fresh snowfall, an ocean sunrise, a brightly colored parrot, beautiful twin granddaughters, or tears streaming down someone’s face as they prepare to be immersed in Baptism. God has created life and we should celebrate it and drink in every morsel of it. We should work particularly hard for Him and to lead others to His church.

Try to understand God’s will for your life and get started on it. Experience and celebrate all that life has to offer and admire and fully appreciate all of the creative genius of none other than almighty God. Someone has wisely said, “Wisdom is seeing life through the eyes of God and living life through the will of God”. Be wise

Proverbs 3:13
Happy is the man who finds
Wisdom