To Do:
- Make a list
- Complete task
- Cross task off list
- Repeat steps 1 through 3
- Make a new list
When it comes to keeping track of the many demands on my time, my Type A side comes out big time. I have a to-do list at work, a to-do list at home, a grocery list, a shopping list…
While I may initially make a list only because there is too much to remember (and my brain is not getting any younger), I am always glad I did because I thoroughly enjoy crossing things off when they are completed. That stroke of the pen says to me “you did something that mattered.” In fact, some evenings I have a hard time relaxing until everything on that day’s list has been accomplished. I don’t want to sit in my comfy chair to watch t.v. or crawl into bed with a book until I know I don’t have to get up again. I want to sit down when my day is done, complete, finished.
I think this is why something I learned this week about Jesus really resonated with me. In Mark 16:19 we read “So then the Lord Jesus, after he had spoken to them [the disciples], was taken up into heaven and sat down at the right hand of God.” He SAT DOWN. Because he was done. In the past, I had focused on where Jesus was sitting and the honor, power, and authority represented there; this was the first I really understood his very posture to indicate that his work had been accomplished. His sacrifice was the final solution to sin. Conversely, in Old Testament times when priests frequently offered sacrifices to atone for their own sins and those of the Israelite people, the tabernacle didn’t even have any chairs because the priest’s work was never done. Isn’t that interesting?
So what about us? When we accept Christ as our Savior, there is no sin his blood can’t cleanse. So…we can sit down. The work is already done because Jesus checked off everything on the list that mattered. We don’t have to keep striving. In fact, maybe the things on my list aren’t the things that matter after all. One of my favorite verses is John 15:5 which reminds me I can’t even do anything that matters without Jesus. “I am the vine; you are the branches. Whoever abides in me and I in him, he it is that bears much fruit, for apart from me you can do nothing.” Today, let’s purpose to abide instead of strive.
For more on how our to do list relates spiritually, listen to part 5 from our Bible study series ‘Captive’
Cindy is a blog contributor and board member at Study With Friends Ministries. She is married with three children. For more on the Study With Friends Bible Studies, click here.
Terry says
I love how Holy Spirit continues to teach us something new in scripture even when we have looked at it many times before-thanks Cindy for sharing!