When I think bucket list, I think of people who are able to rattle off fun things they’d like to do and cool places they’d like to go, before they die.

The phrase bucket list comes from another phrase kick the bucket.

I know people who feel like they must jam-pack their lives with adventures big and little because one day sooner than they know, they’ll be dead.

And I’m guessing they assume that dead equals nothingness so this is their one and only chance, hashtag yolo (you only live once).

If I believed that once I died there’d be nothingness, I might have a different personality (non-homebody) and a different take on life, but I don’t.

I believe that the Bible is clear (backing up here: I believe that the Bible is true because of historical and archaeological evidence that proves it’s true) that those of us who love and try to follow Jesus will immediately wake up in the presence of God upon death (see Luke 23:43) and that one day Jesus will return and restore all of creation – the new heaven and the new earth. (See Revelation 21)

Okay, so, if we’re going to one day live on a restored earth, which I believe to be true as crazy as that all sounds to some, then I don’t have to be in this huge rush to see and do and go.

Because one day, perhaps much sooner than I even imagine, I’ll be able to see whatever I want and do anything I want and go anywhere I want ON THIS EARTH but it’ll be even better, the way it was supposed to be before the Fall.

So, I kind of rest easy. Sure, there are things I’d like to do but I don’t feel this…I don’t know, desperation, to fit it all in before I die.

Because it’ll be there and I’ll get to see it all and do it all one day, but it’ll be even more magnificent. And then everything will be on my bucket list and I cannot wait.

We have this hope as an anchor for the soul, firm and secure. -Hebrews 6:19

(for further reading and a huge boost for your hope and faith, check out John Eldredge’s book, All Things New)

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Hey, p.s. How will you shepherd your heart as we transition out of pandemic life? Some thoughts.

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