If You Get The Bucket Full, Is That All?

SOMETHING  TO THINK ABOUT I got a text message recently with a gorgeous picture.  The sender told me that visiting this place ought to be on my "bucket list."  Actually it was the second time that someone had told me that this particular piece of real estate is a "must see before you die" scene.  I very much appreciate the thought.   About five years ago a movie by that name starring two great actors, Morgan Freeman and Jack Nicholson.  It was about two terminally ill guys who had a list of thing they wanted to do before they "kicked the bucket."  Thus "Bucket list" entered our vocabulary. I've seen books dedicated to the idea.  A web-search of "see before you die books" brought up a whole list.  In general I kind of like the concept.  I'm in my seventh decade of life and there is certainly no reason to lay down and wait for death.  In fact before I go on let me suggest some bucket-list items I've been privileged to already see/experience: The Rock Islands of Palau (For a completely other reason) Dachau The completely loving, and lovely face of my bride after more than half a lifetime of marriage. The stars on a clear, cold, moonless night from a dark, absolutely silent mountain top in the AlleghanyHighlands of Virginia. The face of the love of my wife when I have unbelievably and against-all-odds managed to surprise her with a convertible for her, and my Twenty-fifth Anniversary. Sunset on Lake Moomaw, over Hugh's Draft. The number "100" on my bike cyclo-computer. The look of joy on my son's face, as he reflects the joy on mine, as the two of us, our ages totaling nearly 100, ski across water like glass on a lovely summer day. Standing as Best Man at my son's wedding. The wonders under the Western Pacific. The rain-forests of Ecuador. A gathering of believers-in-Christ on a rough porch sitting, listening to, and teaching God's word, knowing I had a part in making it happen. That's well short of the usually required 100, but I list those out of profound thanksgiving.  I could, but I won't check them off my list.  I won't because I want to do them again.   The bucket-list concept has merit because it encourages enjoying the good things and opportunities that God has given us to "richly enjoy."  (Ecclesiastes 3:11, 1 Timothy 6:17)  I believe it brings honor to God when we enjoy what He has provided. I fear, though, that the idea of cramming in all we can this side of the hearse, creates or reinforces a notion that this is all there is.  It's perhaps expressed by two sayings from two different generations:  "Live fast, die young, and have a good looking corpse."  Or, "We're spending our kid's inheritance." What if we, as adults, were to look at the bucket-list of a toddler:  To eat that cookie. To bite that cat's tail. To get to the other side of that gate-thingy that mommy put up so I can't get to all those shiny things on the other side. . . . . Unimpressive from my adult view. I wonder when I'm with the Lord and the saints of all ages, living without the limitations this world has imposed, what will my present got-to-see-and-do list look like then? Just this morning I started a "Beyond the bucket" list. Here's an entry.  I'm not saying it is #1 in importance, just what's on my mind today, because of what I'm studying: Howard's Beyond-The-Bucket List: Have coffee with Paul and discuss what he learned during those three years in Arabia (Galatians 1:17-18) Where will you be and what will you do after your bucket is full?     It's STTA.   Is there more beyond your bucket?  Here is a simple presentation of the truth that all of us need to prepare for eternity.