I’m Making My List and Checking it Twice

This title is a line from the song, “Santa Claus is Coming to Town”. Even Santa makes lists. I’m there! I admit it. I must make my lists! Oh, yes! I’ve been preparing a meal and realized I forgot an important something. I had to head right back to the grocery store…..again!

Now I make “to do” lists and I’m proud of it – especially at this “mature” season of life. I’m filled with a sense of accomplishment as I check off each “to do” item. I need to make my lists….and I need to check them twice! Last week and this week, include squeezing in a little Christmas “to-do’s” in between my duties at the election polling location.

There are a lot of “have to’s” in my life. I have to pay bills. I have to respond to emails and text messages. I have to go to the grocery store. I have to put gas in my car. I have to wash my car. I have to pay taxes. I have to eat. I have to drink lots of water. You see what I mean!

It’s interesting to look at my “have to” list, and my “get to” list. My “get to” list — are the things I “get to” do spontaneously AND intentionally, because I CAN, and because I really want to do those things.

I GET TO write a daily blog that fills me with unabashed passion. It often gets me up in the wee hours of the morning, like this morning (2:00 am). I get to seek God for “the word” that just might make the difference in someone’s day and life.

I GET TO work out because it makes me feel alive and energized. I get to be silly, wild, and wanting-to-live-out-loud with my children and grands on adventures and their sports activities and attending church together. I get to travel to them or with them. I also get to spend time with friends and family in this sweet, present time. It is time that I’ll never have like this time right now!

Then I wonder where does my time with God fall? Into the “have to” list or the “get to” list? Do I consider my time with Him in His Word as a “have to” or a “get to?”

I pray for God to create in me a “get to” holy desire to spend time with Him, in His Word, worshipping Him and praising Him for all He has done for me and for what 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 happy that we’re not on God’s “have to” relationship list, but we are on His most precious “get to” relationship list. He considers us His most cherished and beloved possessions. He even LISTS us on the palm of His hands. We are unforgettable to Him. Shouldn’t He be unforgettable to us?

“….yet I will not forget you. Behold, I have engraved you on the palms of my hands; your walls are continually before me.” Isaiah 49:16