Have to or Get to Lists

I am one to make to-do lists. They are a MUST for me. This last week, they included getting my home ready for the family coming in, getting the pantry and fridge stocked, my baking done, preparing, cooking and serving. I referred often to my lists and delighted as I checked each item off. Always, the most important item on my lists are my family photos. I am amazed that a great photo can come from an iPhone-timed-photo on a tripod, while vicariously positioning ourselves on uneven rock formations. I was pleased to accomplish every item on my lists – including my family photo seen here.

There are a lot of “have to’s” in my life. I have to pay bills. I have to respond to some emails, phone calls, and appointments. I have to exercise. I have to clean my home. I have to put gas in my car. But, even “have to’s” can be turned to “get to’s” if we look at them out of the mindset of blessings. A shift looks like this: “I have to exercise,” or “I get to workout or run through these beautiful autumn leaves in my neighborhood.” Or, “I have to pay bills today” or, “Thank God, I get to pay these bills. They represent my home, my car, my new clothes, etc.”

Instead of “obligations”, we can rethink it as a blessing: “I get to”! It’s interesting to look at my “have to” list, and my “get to” list. Instead of the mindset – “I HAVE TO stay up late to write my blog and get up early to post it; I prefer to say it this way: “I GET TO stay up late to write my blog and get up early to post it because it fills me with unabashed passion as I seek God for “the word” that just might make the difference in someone’s day.

Then I wonder where does my time with God fall? Into the “have to” list or the “get to” list? I pray for God to create in me a “get to” holy desire to spend time with Him, worshipping Him and praising Him for all He means to me. I want it to be the item on my to-do list that becomes so non-negotiable that it comes before everything else in my life. I want my life to be filled with “get to” moments and not “have to” tasks because I can see them all through the lens of blessing and answered prayer.

Aren’t we so grateful that we’re on God’s most precious “get to” relationship list? He considers us His most cherished and beloved of all treasures. Shouldn’t we be living like that?

“See what great love the Father has lavished on us, that we should be called children of God! And that is what we are!”
1 John 3:1