Lists, Lists, and More Lists
I’m a list-maker. I make to-do lists almost daily. I have a list of weekly priorities. I have lists of people I’ve been meaning to reach out to. I have project lists of things I need to knock out around the house. I have a never-ending list of books I’d love to read – which I’m hoping the Lord will allow me to bring with me to heaven because I won’t be able to get to them before the sand runs out of my hourglass.
My lists are scribbled on scratch paper, neatly written in journals, and plotted nicely in my planner. Some just live precariously in my head, in real danger of being forgotten. My longest “list” is found in my stack of gratitude journals where I’ve been listing God’s blessings to me for almost 13 years.
Over the years, I’ve even learned to appreciate the “lists” of odd sounding, hard to pronounce names in the genealogies of the Bible. God doesn’t include a name in His Word without it having weight and significance so I’ve slogged through line after line of those crazy names, trusting His purpose for their inclusion.
I love that God’s character includes order. That’s right, friends – my Father is also a list-maker! And His lists are pretty epic! He starts His Word with the days of His marvelous creation (Genesis 1). Numerous rosters of families and tribes pepper the pages of the Old Testament, confirming proud lineages of kingship and priesthood. The moral law known as the Ten Commandments comes down to the Israelites in the form of a list (Exodus 20:1-17).
In the New Testament, Jesus lays out the blessings promised to the virtuous in the Beatitudes (Matthew 5:3-12). Paul identifies the nine elements of the fruit of the Spirit in a list (Galatians 5:22-23). Later, he gives us the wardrobe necessary for spiritual warfare (Ephesians 6:10-18). And in the final pages of Scripture, John describes each jewel comprising the foundations of the city walls of the new Jerusalem (Revelation 22:19-21).
For me personally, one of the dearest lists in the Bible ( and there are so many more than the few I referenced) is the genealogy of Jesus given in Matthew 1:1-16. Sprinkled in among the odd sounding, hard to pronounce names are the names of five women. Two of the women were known Gentiles. Two made their way into the pages of Scripture because of scandal. And yet God made space for all five of their stories and faith in the earthly lineage of His Son.
God is able and wholly desires to make space for your story and faith. The most precious roster in existence is found in the Lamb’s Book of Life. To recognize and be sorrowful over your offenses against the Creator; to accept Christ’s willing sacrifice of His life on the cross for you; to desire to turn to Him and follow His ways; and to trust Him with this life and into the next – these are the steps taken by those who confidently and joyfully walk in assurance of an eternity in God’s presence, their names being found in that precious book.
My prayer is that when God rolls up time as we know it, your name will be found on His “list.”
“And this is the testimony: God has given us eternal life, and this life is in His Son. Whoever has the Son has life; whoever does not have the Son of God does not have life. I write these things to you who believe in the name of the Son of God so that you may know that you have eternal life.” – 1 John 5:11-13
