My Bucket is Full

The term “bucket list” was popularized after the so-titled 2007 American movie about two terminally ill men on a road trip with a wish list of things to do before they “kicked the bucket.” (I think the term is an appropriate symbol for the emptiness of most people's lives!)    

On my personal profile page on this Dying to Live Blog, there is a place to ask a provocative question. Mine is: “If you knew this was your last day on earth, would you have to change your plans?”  Did I know how relevant that question would be!
 

As a person living on life's threshold (aren't we all!), do I have a bucket list?  Only this: to finish my race well and remain faithful. (2 Tim. 4:7).  Morose thoughts on this, my 65^th birthday?  I don’t think so.  What better day to reflect on God’s protection in a year of unforeseen events and to contemplate His promises as I look toward an unpredictable future. What better time than this to declare, I am well content, and my ‘bucket’ is full.

What’s in Your Bucket?

Years ago I met the senior pastor of a large church in Houston, Texas, Wallace Henley. Wallace grew up on a farm. And in his book, he presents the following analogy, comparing hearts to buckets.

In any farmyard, there are lots of buckets around—buckets full of ‘feed,’ buckets full of bolts, buckets full of dirt, buckets full of garbage... And when you bump into and/or kick over a bucket, whatever is ‘in’ the bucket is what will spill out. Wallace says people are like those farmyard buckets. When you meet (colloquially, we might say “run into” or “bump into”) a friend or acquaintance, whatever is in them will spill out. If they are anxious or perplexed about something, as soon as you begin talking to them, the thing making them anxious will spill out. If they are happy and excited, it will pour out. So if you listen to what spills out of a person, you will know what he is “full of."

Jesus said “For out of the overflow of his heart his mouth speaks.” (Luke 6:45). If you want to find out what's in someone's heart, just listen to his words.

But here’s something more personally helpful. If you want to know what is in your own heart, just listen to your words. Have you ever left a conversation with someone and immediately wondered why you brought up a subject you had no intention of talking about? It was in your heart! Pay attention to what spills out of your mouth; it will help you to discern the condition of your heart.

Listening to your own words is key for you to “Watch over your heart with all diligence” (Prov. 4:23).