Life's Top-Ten List

By Randy Knapp

Have you ever participated in the exercise where you are asked to list the ten most important things in your life? It’s kind of fun and a little bit instructional, so here goes. Feel free to make your own list if you wish.

Here’s mine: 1. My faith and trust in God and how that belief shapes the rest of my life. 2. My relationship of love and respect with my wife. 3. My two boys. 4. My church family. 5. Good health. 6. A safe place to live. 7. Financial stability. 8. Decent transportation. 9. Work that I enjoy. 10. Enough food and water to live comfortably.

Your list may differ from mine, but the significance of the exercise is found in the following process.

Now cut the list in half. That’s right. Lose half of the items on the list. Decide which items you could live without, or at least reduce significantly, then cross them off.

Okay, I could stand to lose a few pounds, so I’ll cut the food and water first. Don’t worry, I’m not going to starve, I’ll just have to reduce my comfort level. Next I’ll go for the transportation. Any car will do. It doesn’t really have to be dependable. Third item to go is financial stability. I’m supposed to learn to trust in God to cover my needs, so it makes sense to cross that one off. Fourth, if I had to, I could handle a different job. I could make it work even if the job wasn’t much fun. Okay, last, I could probably make it without my church family. I love to spend time with them, but the list has to be cut, so sacrifices have to be made.

Next…cut two more items off the list.

Now I’m homeless and in ill health. Numbers five and six of my top ten list have been crossed off.

I still have faith in God, my wife, and my two boys.

Hey, did you notice that “I” didn’t even place myself on the top ten list? It seems that I’m not important enough to make my own list. What does that say about me? I’m curious if you made your own top ten. It may be something to consider later.

Finally, we have to cut two more items off the list. Only one item can remain from the original ten.

If I have to lose my wife and boys, my trust and faith in God tells me that when this age ends, either with my death or the end of the world, I’ll get to see my wife and two boys again and spend eternity with them. So, my faith in God has to stay.

By the way, if I had made it on the first list, and survived through the cuts, I’d have to choose between myself and my relationship with God. I’d lose the selection, because without my relationship with God, all I’d be is an atheist just waiting for nothing to happen when I die.

I’ve contemplated my life and made some hard choices. I’ve come to the conclusion that my faith in God is the most important thing.

The exercise is over, and we have come to the all-too-obvious conclusion. Our relationship with God has to come first in order for the rest of the important things to have the most value. With that lesson learned, now I can get back to my busy life. But, nagging in the back of my mind is the question, “Have I really learned the lesson?”

Let’s take a look at some illuminating facts.

More than half of us men will lose our wives and families through divorce. Oh, they are still alive, but any divorced man will tell you that there is true “death” involved. Many of us have nice houses, cars, plenty to eat, and so on, but we have to work 50 to 60 hour weeks to afford it. And to put it bluntly, we don’t own those things, the bank does. We are mortgaged to the hilt to afford our lifestyles. If the bankers decide to pull the plug, we’ll be hungry, homeless, and hoofing it around town. We are one big mistake away from losing our good jobs. Many people are one insult away from losing their church family. We are one heart attack, stroke or tragic car accident away from losing our good health. And what unfortunate circumstances don’t take away, old age will. In the end, we even lose our bodies.

All of this comes down to one thing of importance – our spiritual relationship with God. This is the only thing that survives through to the next realm. It will behoove us to focus a significant part of our every-day effort on making it the best it can be? Jesus says: “Don’t worry and ask yourselves, ‘Will we have anything to eat? Will we have anything to drink? Will we have any clothes to wear?’ Only people who don’t know God are always worrying about such things. Your Father in heaven knows that you need all of these. But more than anything else, put God’s work first and do what he wants. Then the other things will be yours as well.” Matthew 6:31-33

Our true priorities in life are not revealed by our good intentions. They are revealed in results, by our actions. What are we doing in a day-to-day systematic fashion to become more acquainted with God and how He is working in our world? When we recognize what is truly important in our lives and then pursue it with due diligence, then what Jesus says is true: “The kingdom of heaven is near.”

Randy tries to organize his priorities from Medford, Oregon knappsnest@msn.com






Life’s Top-Ten List
By Randy Knapp

Have you ever participated in the exercise where you are asked to list the ten most important things in your life? It’s kind of fun and a little bit instructional, so here goes. Feel free to make your own list if you wish.
Here’s mine: 1. My faith and trust in God and how that belief shapes the rest of my life. 2. My relationship of love and respect with my wife. 3. My two boys. 4. My church family. 5. Good health. 6. A safe place to live. 7. Financial stability. 8. Decent transportation. 9. Work that I enjoy. 10. Enough food and water to live comfortably.
Your list may differ from mine, but the significance of the exercise is found in the following process.
Now cut the list in half. That’s right. Lose half of the items on the list. Decide which items you could live without, or at least reduce significantly, then cross them off.
Okay, I could stand to lose a few pounds, so I’ll cut the food and water first. Don’t worry, I’m not going to starve, I’ll just have to reduce my comfort level. Next I’ll go for the transportation. Any car will do. It doesn’t really have to be dependable. Third item to go is financial stability. I’m supposed to learn to trust in God to cover my needs, so it makes sense to cross that one off. Fourth, if I had to, I could handle a different job. I could make it work even if the job wasn’t much fun. Okay, last, I could probably make it without my church family. I love to spend time with them, but the list has to be cut, so sacrifices have to be made.
Next…cut two more items off the list.
Now I’m homeless and in ill health. Numbers five and six of my top ten list have been crossed off.
I still have faith in God, my wife, and my two boys.
Hey, did you notice that “I” didn’t even place myself on the top ten list? It seems that I’m not important enough to make my own list. What does that say about me? I’m curious if you made your own top ten. It may be something to consider later.
Finally, we have to cut two more items off the list. Only one item can remain from the original ten.
If I have to lose my wife and boys, my trust and faith in God tells me that when this age ends, either with my death or the end of the world, I’ll get to see my wife and two boys again and spend eternity with them. So, my faith in God has to stay.
By the way, if I had made it on the first list, and survived through the cuts, I’d have to choose between myself and my relationship with God. I’d lose the selection, because without my relationship with God, all I’d be is an atheist just waiting for nothing to happen when I die.
I’ve contemplated my life and made some hard choices. I’ve come to the conclusion that my faith in God is the most important thing.
The exercise is over, and we have come to the all-too-obvious conclusion. Our relationship with God has to come first in order for the rest of the important things to have the most value. With that lesson learned, now I can get back to my busy life. But, nagging in the back of my mind is the question, “Have I really learned the lesson?”
Let’s take a look at some illuminating facts.
More than half of us men will lose our wives and families through divorce. Oh, they are still alive, but any divorced man will tell you that there is true “death” involved. Many of us have nice houses, cars, plenty to eat, and so on, but we have to work 50 to 60 hour weeks to afford it. And to put it bluntly, we don’t own those things, the bank does. We are mortgaged to the hilt to afford our lifestyles. If the bankers decide to pull the plug, we’ll be hungry, homeless, and hoofing it around town. We are one big mistake away from losing our good jobs. Many people are one insult away from losing their church family. We are one heart attack, stroke or tragic car accident away from losing our good health. And what unfortunate circumstances don’t take away, old age will. In the end, we even lose our bodies.
All of this comes down to one thing of importance – our spiritual relationship with God. This is the only thing that survives through to the next realm. It will behoove us to focus a significant part of our every-day effort on making it the best it can be? Jesus says: “Don’t worry and ask yourselves, ‘Will we have anything to eat? Will we have anything to drink? Will we have any clothes to wear?’ Only people who don’t know God are always worrying about such things. Your Father in heaven knows that you need all of these. But more than anything else, put God’s work first and do what he wants. Then the other things will be yours as well.” Matthew 6:31-33
Our true priorities in life are not revealed by our good intentions. They are revealed in results, by our actions. What are we doing in a day-to-day systematic fashion to become more acquainted with God and how He is working in our world? When we recognize what is truly important in our lives and then pursue it with due diligence, then what Jesus says is true: “The kingdom of heaven is near.”

Randy tries to organize his priorities from Medford, Oregon knappsnest@msn.com