What's on your bucket list?
Maybe you want to learn how to juggle knives,
or try a new sport,
Spanish: learn a new language,
ride a unicycle,
or read 1001 books.
Maybe you want to tour the globe,
travelling from deserts to polar regions,
from mountain tops to ocean depths.
Or meet people from different cultures,
or relax on sun-drenched beaches.
The world is an incredible place, with so many
things to experience but so little time
to get it all done.
Many of us have a longing to live life to the full
wanting it to have been worthwhile.
I've recently been travelling in South Africa.
It was amazing.
Meeting people, exploring places.
Definitely go and visit if you can.
While I was out in Africa here's two
things that I ticked off my bucket list.
The first was to jump out of an airplane.
That was scary.
The second was to swim with sharks.
But you know the adventures,
the experiences, the highs they soon fade.
The thing is that life to the full is
not found in experiences or highs,
both of which don't last.
Life is found in something that lasts forever,
Full life is found in knowing God the Creator,
the one who gave us all these good things to enjoy.
Stunning natural wonders, wildlife,
food and friends.
Only knowing and experiencing eternal life with God
will fully satisfies us. It's what we were made for.
Notice the tagline on these books
they remind us that we will one day die.
All of these things are wonderful things
that we could do but actually there is
only one thing that we really must do
before we die.
So whatever you want to tick off your bucket list,
whether it's to swim the channel,
or learn how to bake
or improve your handicap.
Don't miss the one thing that we must do
before we die.
And that's to get right with God.
Jesus said that the answer to living a full life
revolves around him.
That's quite a claim!
This is what he said.
I have come that they may have life
and have it to the full.
Jesus is talking about full life
live to the max, both now and in eternity.
Life forever with God in a perfect new creation.
Let's face it though the
reality is that we live like spoilt children.
Enjoying the things that he's given us
but ignoring and rejecting a relationship with him.
And that's why Jesus came to earth,
he gave His life so that we could be made right with God.
And the one thing that we must do before we die,
is to respond to God's offer of
relationship with him.