In this day and age, I notice many people living their lives out of checklists: Top 25 Places to Visit before You Die; the 100 Books You Need to Read; 10 Habits of Happy People; 12 Things You Must Have Before You Turn 40. The lists are endless and there is a new one that comes up everyday in the Internet. Then of course, almost everyone has his or her own ‘Bucket List’.
I guess these lists are okay for they can provide some insights and directions. The great danger however is that I might be living someone else’s life in the process instead of my own. My life is like no other. My happiness and fulfillment cannot be defined by the places other people have visited or the books they have read or the habits that they have and certainly not by the things that they have and I don’t. I have an assignment in life that only I can do. Thus, I will not be defined by others expectations but only by that for which I was brought into this life.
When people saw the wonders that Jesus did, they wanted to to make Him king. But he withdrew from them and would not be distracted from His mission: to do the will of the Father. He told His disciples to do the same: “Seek ye first the kingdom of God, and his righteousness; and all these things shall be added unto you.” Prayer is my daily conversation with God to know what His will for me. There are days I can see His plan for me very clearly. There are days when things look muddled and confusing. Thing would be even more so if I miss my daily time in silence and prayer.
One thing I seek: to dwell in the house of the Lord.
When they had had their fill, he said to his disciples,
“Gather the fragments left over,
so that nothing will be wasted.”
So they collected them,
and filled twelve wicker baskets with fragments
from the five barley loaves that had been more than they could eat.
When the people saw the sign he had done, they said,
“This is truly the Prophet, the one who is to come into the world.”
Since Jesus knew that they were going to come and carry him off
to make him king,
he withdrew again to the mountain alone.
John 6:1-15