Why God’s Bucket List Matters More Than Everything on Ours

Jack Selcher
Jan 26, 2025
3 min read

Updated: 23 hours ago

Jesus pointing at a sign that says bucket lists that is crossed out with red paint

Summary

Personal bucket lists do not define a meaningful life. Sports, travel, and achievements may entertain but rarely transform. Jesus taught that not knowing Scripture or God’s power distorts priorities. Paul ultimately counted all accomplishments as worthless compared to knowing Christ. True significance comes not from what we experience before death, but from what God accomplishes through us as we surrender to His will and pursue His eternal purposes.

Do you have a bucket list of achievements and experiences to accumulate before you die? A bucket list identifies what you value and think will make your life worthwhile.

What Bucket Lists Reveal About Our Values

Let’s consider the bucket lists of some celebrities. Jeff Gordon wants to see a professional soccer game in Europe, Warren Moon wants to go to Wimbledon, and James Denton wants to see the final of the World Cup in soccer.

Matthew Stafford would like to go to and watch the Super Bowl. Joe Theismann wants to go to the Master’s Championship in golf.1

All these men value sports. I love sports, but attending a top-shelf sporting event isn’t on my bucket list.

Many people value meeting someone famous before they die. I met Muhammad Ali at a gas station on the Pennsylvania Turnpike and Bill Bright, the founder of Campus Crusade for Christ in California.

I met Joe Kovacs, the three-time Olympic shot-put silver medalist, and Ryan Whiting, an indoor world champion in the shot put.

Wikipedia lists them all, but meeting famous people isn’t on my bucket list.

Some include travel experiences on their bucket lists. Architectural Digest suggests learning to roast coffee in Guatemala, cliff jumping in Pula, Croatia, riding a motorbike around northern Vietnam, bathing in a Budapest thermal bath, and many others.

It says new experiences help us look at the world differently.2 I’ve visited Canada and most states in the United States, but travel experiences aren’t on my bucket list and haven’t altered how I see the world. Something else has.

Why Experiences Eventually Lose Their Power

Travel, famous meetings, and once-in-a-lifetime events rarely change how we truly see the world. Even memorable experiences fade, leaving the deeper hunger for purpose unresolved.

Jesus Exposed the Real Problem

Jesus points us toward it. He was addressing Sadducees, Jewish religious leaders who didn’t believe in the resurrection of the dead. They told Him an invented story to support their beliefs. Jesus identified the underlying issue of their unbelief. He told them, “Your mistake is that you don’t know the Scriptures, and you don’t know the power of God” (Mark 12:24 NLT).

Knowing God Reorders Priorities

Knowing the Scriptures and God’s power changes priorities and how we view life. That is when bucket lists lose their importance. We understand that completing God’s bucket list for our lives is all that matters. When the Apostle Paul knew the Scriptures and God’s power, he called everything else garbage by comparison.

Paul’s Radical Reassessment of Success

He once valued religious accomplishments. He was circumcised when he was eight days old. He was a pure-blooded citizen of Israel, a member of the tribe of Benjamin. He was a Pharisee, strictly obeying Jewish law. He zealously persecuted the church harshly. He obeyed the law without fault (Philippians 3:5–6).

He put a high price tag on these things, but later considered them worthless compared with the infinite value of knowing Christ Jesus his Lord. For Jesus’ sake, he counted everything else as garbage, so he could gain Christ and become one with him. He wanted to know Christ and experience resurrection power and resurrection from the dead (Philippians 3:7-11).

He went all out to achieve the perfection for which Jesus Christ possessed him (Philippians 3:12). To become more like Jesus, He called bucket lists and everything else rubbish.