For Your List of “Things to Do”

Lists are a good thing. Lists aren’t just a Santa thing, who checks them twice; they are a God thing.

Consider the lists God gives us. The 10 Commandments stand as the most famous list from God. A close second would be the list of amazing acts he accomplished in just the first Six Days. His Spirit guided writers to list family genealogies (I am in the midst of I Chronicles), materials for the temple, key events of the Exodus, names of The Twelve and the subsequent acts of the Apostles. We benefit from lists of Spirit given gifts and Spirit produced fruit. We are instructed by lists of things that will accompany The End as well as cheered by lists of blessings in The Coming Kingdom.

Lists are a good thing.

Read any book or listen to any podcast on life and time management. The making of lists will be on the list of things to do to make the most of both life and time.

Let me encourage you to consider the following lists.

• A prayer list—Mine is in my head; that might not be the best place.
• A list of your biggest loves and goals—Keeping “the big picture” of your life on a list and referring to it often will keep you from getting derailed by the crush and details of daily life.
• Lists for the day, the week and the year—There are lots of things that need to be done, and while they do not all need to be done today, they need to find a day for doing.
• A list of the Big Three—A friend of mine has gotten into a habit of listing the three biggest things to get done “today”.  That seems like a great idea. I should put that on my list of new things to accomplish.
• A list of people to stay in contact with—This can be a version of your Christmas card list. Maybe an expansion. And maybe not just at Christmas.
• A list of logins and passwords—You can name this list “A List of Necessary Evils”.
• A list of blessings—The world offers a drumbeat of all the bad things the world and its inhabitants have to offer. Listing your blessings will serve to drown out that drumbeat. Many of the Psalms are exactly that, a listing of blessings.
• A grocery list—Enough said?

Right now my life is in a big shift. Lists (and God’s grace) are getting me through it. But when isn’t life for all of us shifting? No day is just like the previous one; change is the nature of life. Lists in the midst of change serve to remind, refine and even help to relax.

There is nothing earthshattering or super insightful about this post, but it is still significant. This week put a review of your list-making on your list of things to do.