I suppose everyone has a bucket list of things they would like to accomplish before they die. Some of these things may be for personal enjoyment, while others are actually callings from God.
I think it is great to have a bucket list because it shows you are an active dreamer. I am a big proponent of dreaming and making what I call a living bucket list of things I am actively working toward fulfilling.
Probably most of us—when we were young and full of confidence—believed we could do everything in our bucket list before we were twenty one years old. Nothing was out of our reach. However, the older we became and the more rejection we experienced, the more unsure we became about our bucket list accomplishments. As a result of our experiences we began to move into an unfamiliar territory called compromise.
I suppose at one time or another all of us have had bucket list qualifications for the person we envisioned marrying. In most cases the person we married was nothing like the person on our bucket list. This could be because we were unrealistic in the first place regarding our future mates qualification’s…or lust took over our emotions and we missed God all together. Or sometimes God superseded our qualifications in a mate and gave us one beyond our expectations
After having said that, many of the things in our bucket list are actually within our reach, but for us to receive them would require more discipline on our part. We have also learned over the years that it was much easier to go with the flow of life rather than to challenge life.
Our text is a wonderful promise as to how to fulfill our personal dreams as well as fulfilling the worthwhile things that God has put in our bucket list.
Perhaps the reason we have a hard time accomplishing the things in our bucket list is because it requires us to be more responsible and disciplined than we are willing to be. There is always a risk in going after the valuable things in life. It is a lot more fun to dream and talk about things than it is to actually pay the price to attain them. We would also prefer to put our plans somewhere in the future by saying things like, “I am going to do this later.”
I am sure all of us would be more fulfilled if we would only risk being stretched out of our confront zone. In other words, whatever it is that makes you uncomfortable on your bucket list, do that first. We need to always remember our text where it says, “Delight thyself also in the LORD; and he shall give thee the desires of thine heart.”
Challenge: What is it that is in your heart that you have been afraid to dream of?
Father,
Restore to us the ability to dream. Help us to accomplish the dreams on our bucket list as well as dream bigger dreams to put on our list. Father we know nothing is impossible with you…so help us to dream the impossible dreams and watch you lead us to their fulfillment.
Amen.
Delight thyself also in the LORD; and he shall give thee the desires of thine heart. (Psalm 37:4 KJV)
Apostle John Dean Copyright 2009 All Rights Reserved
Alliance International Ministries