Several years ago, I met a fabulously wealthy man while on vacation in Boca Grande Florida. I would run on the beach every morning with him and then we would stop at a little cafe, drink a bottle of water, and discuss various things. He was one of the most interesting people that I ever met. One thing that he advised me to do is to make a list of 100 significant things that I want to do before I die and then work hard to accomplish them. He said that he did it many years ago and working his list through the years had kept him young and vibrant.
Hmmm. It sounded like a good challenge, so I sat down and began to list my 100 items, and to my utter amazement I could only come up with about 20. After MUCH effort I finally came up with 100 significant items for my list. I started working it and have been working it ever since.
Aside from travel I also listed individual achievements like: obtain a net worth of over a million dollars before I turned 35, bench press 300 pounds, see all of my children do what I did not do and graduate from college, meet Billy Graham and pray with him, go to the oval office of the Whitehouse and sit down with a sitting President and discuss an important matter, catch one of each species of Marlin, the blue, black, white, and striped, etc.
It felt good to cross item after item off the list.
Through the years I have achieved many things on the list; others I am still working, and a few have passed me and I will never have the opportunity to achieve them in this lifetime. It has been great fun to work my list through the years and I encourage you to make one of your own. In fact, I achieved and removed so many items, that several years ago I revised it and added more.
I sincerely believe God wants us to enjoy this life to the hilt. I don’t think He wants us to live in seclusion beating ourselves with chains like some religious fanatic serving penance and begging for forgiveness. Jesus paid that price and said, “It is done!” I take Him at His word. Now I am born again and I put my sordid past behind me and look forward to what He has in store for me. It has been thrilling to live the life of a Christian and experience what He created.
Don’t you agree? No?
Ask yourself why else God would have created this beautiful blue marble and suspended it in outer space and loaded it chock full of scenic wonders and fascinating creatures if for none other reason than for us, His beloved children, to enjoy. Why else would He create us with bright creative inquisitive minds and natures if not to encourage us to use them to discover all His glory and achievements?
Search life and its meaning. Ask God to open your eyes to what is around you. Live, experience, and enjoy life. Enjoy God.
You can start your list today. Objectives could be as simple as winning a chili cook off right in your hometown or running in and finishing a race of some sort, or maybe even a marathon. It would take several lifetimes just to experience what awaits us right here in the good old USA.
I would like to add that fulfilling those goals that are spiritual in nature is the absolute best feeling in the world. I have many on my list to go, but I have achieved quite a few. I keep my spiritual list private for the most part. Some things I share, but others I keep just between God and me. If I make it, He and I know it and that is sufficient for me.
When I was struggling to become a Christian one of the most appealing things about Christ was that He offered hope where I had none. I savored His encouraging words in Philippians that stated, “I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me”. I believe that verse pertains to this exercise. Don’t waste your life and just exist. Live it to its fullest. Life is no dress rehearsal and what you have now is all you will ever get. Live life, smile, achieve something worthwhile (maybe even 100 or more things), and have some FUN!
Isa 40:31
But those who hope in the Lord will renew their strength. They will soar on wings like eagles; they will run and not grow weary, they will walk and not be faint.