How big of a barn do you need?

Do you have a bucket list? A real list of several things you want to accomplish before you “kick the bucket”?

How do you decide what goes on your bucket list? What is so important that you would have regrets if you didn’t get to experience it?

By the way those who live in the West are taught to dream massive dreams, pursue goals, not settle for anything less than the best, and seek what makes them happy, we’ve come to think that life is about stuffing our human experience as full as we possibly can.

Then we open the Bible.

There we’re exposed to how God values life, and we hear the simple and clear teachings of Jesus. From these things, a new thought rises …

Perhaps the quality of our lives is less about how full we stuff them and more about how graciously we empty them.

Kind of like how Jesus lived when He walked this earth:

“You must have the same attitude that Christ Jesus had. Though he was God, he did not think of equality with God as something to cling to. Instead, he gave up his divine privileges; he took the humble position of a slave and was born as a human being. When he appeared in human form, he humbled himself in obedience to God and died a criminal’s death on a cross. Therefore, God elevated him to the place of highest honor and gave him the name above all other names, that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth, and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father,” Philippians 2:5-11.

Just as Jesus emptied Himself, so we can find the richness of life in His example of humility, love, and service.

Or, we can go after the dream of packing life full of things we think will make us happy. Jesus once told a story of a man who chose that kind of path …

“Then he told them a story: A rich man had a fertile farm that produced fine crops. He said to himself, ‘What should I do? I don’t have room for all my crops.’ Then he said, ‘I know! I’ll tear down my barns and build bigger ones. Then I’ll have room enough to store all my wheat and other goods. And I’ll sit back and say to myself, My friend, you have enough stored away for years to come. Now take it easy! Eat, drink, and be merry!’ But God said to him, ‘You fool! You will die this very night. Then who will get everything you worked for?’ Yes, a person is a fool to store up earthly wealth but not have a rich relationship with God,” Luke 12:16-21.

Have you chosen to try to stuff life to overflow, so you can kick back and just “enjoy life”? Or have you chosen to empty your life to the glory of God?

Scotty