The list

 The list grows longer every day. In fact the list is now so long that I need to write it down on something but I’ll have to put that on the list as well. I’m not sure when the list was born, maybe sometime in the late nineteen eighties, I think? But today the list has grown into a famished monster that keeps devouring my time bite by bite. 

 

 Now there are all sorts of lists: the Dean’s list, grocery list, Santa’s list, lists of questions as well as answers, lists of suggestions, bucket lists, suspect lists, reading lists and in fact so many lists that I’m having trouble listing them all. If you can think of it then you can list it.

You can find lists everywhere too. Originally, when they were first invented, lists were pressed into soft tablets of clay where they could be modified with additions and subtractions as needed. After paper and pencils were invented lists started popping up everywhere carelessly scribbled on pieces of scratch paper. Now lists are digitally rendered and stored electronically on your phone, tablet or computer. 

Even at fine restaurants, if you want a table, you will have to have your name added to the list. However, some lists are high and lofty and out of reach of the average person. The Dean’s list is one of those types of lists that my name has never appeared on although my son made it once. Santa has two lists; one for naughty boys and girls and another for good boys and girls. On Christmas morning if you wanted that red and white board with the steel wheels then you had better be on the “Good” list.

Disasters too have several lists which list missing persons, the dead as well as survivors. There are even some lists that have been etched into granite monuments in order to withstand the test of time. These sacred monuments list the names of massacred victims or fallen soldiers who died while fighting for freedom.  

Bakers need lists of ingredients, police need lists of suspects, bankers need lists of assets, baseball coaches need batting lists, astronauts need check lists and even the President of the United States needs lists… on second thought  maybe we better truncate and scratch him off the list. 

Lately, I’ve been wondering if lists are under rated and have been made to play second fiddle to snobby blogs, sharp opinions and editorials. Still, every married man has a list. However, these lists tend to be extremely long, never written down and committed to memory where they can be recalled at moment’s notice while in the presence of their wives. 

Even almighty God made a list once. He made a list of Ten Commandments that would help all mankind to live peacefully with each other in the safety of their communities. This list was inscribed by the finger of God, on tablets of stone, and given to Moses to take to the children of Israel. Unfortunately, upon his return, Moses broke them when He discovered the children of Israel had made a golden calf and were worshipping it. However, let us not be too hard on Moses as we too have all broken at least one of those listed commandments.

There is one list of names that is paramount to be listed on. It’s not a list where one is waiting for a table or honored for some achievement. This list was not written down using quill and ink on fragile paper or chiseled into a solid granite block. This list is not digitally rendered but exists outside of our own physical realm beyond the destructive reach of moth and rust.

This list is eternal. It is a heavenly list that records the names of people who, while are still in the land of the living, made their own freewill choice to trust in the Lamb of God.  They asked to receive this free gift of forgiveness from God. It’s through the power of His Son’s blood that saves us from long lists of evil, destructive things that we have done while here on earth.

You can’t be willed in, grandfathered in or bought into getting on this list. It’s really just a list of names who have been invited to a heavenly wedding, one that will have no wedding crashers.  Of all the lists ever created in this world, things to buy or things to get, this is a list that you will want to be on when your days on this world are complete.

The Lamb’s Book of Life is the list of all lists. It is sealed, limited, and exclusive and was not written with human hands but with the blood of God’s own Son, Christ Jesus.