I am one of those list making people. It's not that I have such a bad memory (yet!) that I need to make them. It's all about completeness. I hate to let my days fritter away, and I worry about things sliding off to next week.

Some people make lists when they are going on vacation so they don't forget to bring everything or take care of everything before they leave. Rent boat, check! Only a fool would build a house (or a tower, as the bible points out) without sitting down and listing all the items needed, thus counting the cost and seeing if they can afford it. Some make lists to organize items or tasks. My lists are never that organized! I have oddball stuff that is usually completely unrelated. Or so it seems.

- print labels - fix hard disk - bulletin - visit post office - dump ashes - D's birthday - upstairs trash - update list - Wal-Mart

How about that. Print labels for Atari games (my silly hobby), so I can take them to the post office. Update my list of Atari games and add new ones (one list item is to update another list, it makes the head spin!) Wal-Mart - I need to go shopping for some things. This will generate yet another list! Oh and when I go to Wal-Mart I should remember that my darlin' D's birthday is coming up, also on the list. And Dave's boss' computer crashed, so I offered to recover their point of sale data from their hard drive. Their store is up near Wal-Mart, so if I get that done first I can drop the data off along the way. Even though my list is diverse it sort of snakes around and sets the course for much of the day.

Note things I do every week don't make the list. Be good (it would probably help me to add that to the list, so I actually did it!) Be nice to Deniese. Brush teeth, get dressed, eat dinner. Some things I LIKE to do and wouldn't go a day without doing them, so they don't make the list. That bulletin, though, always makes the list. That's because when it's done I relish crossing it off the list!!! Done done done!

Some people can list the books of the bible. While that's not required, it does help you find things when you are studying. Some can list the ten commandments, the 12 (14? 16?) apostles, the 12 tribes. Again, very useful stuff to know. Paul listed his trials to make a point. Peter listed what to look for in a false prophet, and what to look for in a true prophet. There are lists of what is required in an elder, and even an elder's wife. So lists are certainly not bad all the time.

And yet. And yet there is a time when a list is bad. In Revelation, God lists many things about the seven churches of Asia. Only one church has a list that contains no warnings of its demise, because the lists contain both what is good about them and what God has against them. Jesus talks of a list of things left undone - things that were not done to the least in the kingdom, thus not done to him. Those who don't do these things enter eternal punishment. Also a bad list - darkness, flame, anguish, torment, outer, alone, eternal.

How easy it is to add worldly interests and attention grabbers to our lists, and leave off the important stuff. Prayer. A letter of encouragement. An email thinking of you. A phone call to someone missing. Do my Sunday lesson. Read that next chapter in my daily personal bible study. Invite a friend to services. Write a bulletin for Randy.

When a boat lists, it usually sinks. As unrelated as that seems, our personal lists, if they leave out spiritual things, can sink us too! There's more to going to heaven than just "sit on pew" - check!

Randy