{Elementary} Bucket List

Bucket List

 
Few things are more useful than a bucket. A bucket is simple genius, really. There's almost no end to what you can do with a bucket. Put it on your head and you're ready to go jousting. Turn it upside down and you can reach the cookies on the top shelf. Bail water out of your boat, slop the pigs, or play trashketball with one--what you put IN the bucket is key.

We tend to put things in buckets that are important to us. Things that we don't want to let go of, burdensome things, as often as not, like pain, hurt, disappointment, and disillusionment. And we tend to accumulate those things, adding them to the bucket until we need a bigger bucket or even multiple buckets. We may dedicate our buckets, labeling them with people's names, especially if they keep on doing us wrong. Eventually we are trapped, weighed down emotionally by buckets we can't seem to let go of. We can't move on, enjoying relationships to their fullestand participating with both hands in enjoyable and worthwhile activities, till we let go of the bucket, till we forgive. Forgiveness is all about letting go of the bucket. It may have to be done on a gradual basis, even intentionally done every day. But when you let go of your bucket, you are then free to jump in with both hands and feet and live as God intended.

So in May, we'll be focusing on forgiveness, which is deciding that someone who has wronged you doesn't have to pay. Here's the line-up:

Since God forgives you, you should forgive others. (Jesus' parable of the unmerciful servant, Matthew 18)

When people are forgiven, it can change them. (Jesus and Zacchaeus, Luke 19)

When you want to get even, do the opposite. (Joseph and his brothers, Genesis 45)

Don't wait to start making things right with others. (Jesus teaches about forgiveness, Matthew 5)

And for the fifth week of May, we'll be focusing on the faith skill of prayer:

You can talk to God about anything. (Philippians 4)

For a powerful true story of forgiveness, check out Unbroken, by Laura Hillenbrand. It's about Louis Zamperini, the Olympic distance runner and WWII POW survivor. 60 Minutes did a story on him a few years back, which you can find online. But don't miss out on the book. You won't be sorry.

By Melanie Williams. © 2011 The reThink Group * www.rethinkgroup.org * All rights reserved. Used by permission