Making Lists… Hello weekend readers. I am musing on lists—sounds goofy for a devotion but, it is often the mundane that moves me to write! It’s getting closer for Al and I to start packing the RV and other stuff and depart Arizona and head up the mountains to Lake Abiquiu in northern New Mexico. If I don’t write a list, I’ll leave a lot of stuff behind, and even with a list, I still do but not as much! For years I never made a list but I find myself doing it more often. I suspect this is part of our fading memories as we age, but I choose to call it a smart idea!

These days I find making a list to be very assuring. I don’t want to miss something when I read a great quote or a story someone shared with me, so I quickly write it down. Those lists help me write devotions which I have in a huge 3-ring binder and backed-up with everything on my computer that has 3 back-ups as well—I don’t want to lose those stories or any of my photography. Cautious? Yes, but this is my “bag of ideas” from all kinds of places and people and it is a treasure that encourages my heart and my writing.

Think of those treasures you have; think of the times you were glad you made a list or the times where, if you’re like me, you made the list but left it at home. That’s where putting your list on a cellphone can be advantageous—as long as you remember where you put it! Yes, I am speaking of personal experience!

A day ago I had a delightful phone call from Max Lucado’s secretary and then she put him on. We reminisced for a while on collaborations we had worked together on, how the kids are grown up, being a grandpa, etc. I also wanted him to know how his latest book, Help is Here, has deeply impacted and encouraged our home group Bible study. Since that book, he’s written 3 more and I asked him how he keeps everything straight. His answer “I make lists otherwise my secretary would fire me.” (I know Evelyn—lists are her top priority!)

So, with his humor and his permission, I share Max’s God-given and time-tested truths that we can make our own list from for navigating our lives in step with God.

  • When no one is watching, live as if someone is.
  • Succeed at home first.
  • Pray twice as much as you fret.
  • Listen twice as much as you speak.
  • God has forgiven you; you’d be wise to do the same.
  • Once a week, let a child take you on a walk.
  • Only harbor a grudge when God does.
  • Never let the important be the victim of the trivial.

Isn’t that a great list to abide by? We should use it often enough that we’ll memorize it. Even the dictionary reminds us of the power and impact of a list: reassuring, comforting, helps to understand and solve problems, when to and not to take control, and so much more.

When life gets off-kilter and we find ourselves wishing we made a list, turning to the most powerful list in the Bible can be one of the most assuring and encouraging list of all and it is a list where we need to live out every day:

But the Holy Spirit produces this kind of fruit in our lives:
love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness,
faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control.
There is no law against these things!
-Galatians 5:22-23 NLT

When we exercise that beautiful list written by the Apostle Paul almost 2,000 years ago, it is like a permanent list seared on our hearts and our minds, giving us hope, assurance, and the grace to live with ourselves and others. I love singing it to that old Sunday School song.

In closing, I urge us to go ahead, write our lists, and make sure God’s leading is a part of your list and includes God’s best interests for your directions in navigating today’s often tricky and expensive living—even that Costco list that we all know gets bigger when we arrive at the store and our wallet sighs! AMEN.