Have you ever used a checklist? I like checklists. They can help keep things organized, can help get things finished and can serve as a barometer of how we are doing. Checklists can help us see if we are missing anything.

Jesus was a checklist guy. There is a story in the Gospels about a man that ran up to Jesus and asked Jesus what it took to inherit eternal life. Jesus gave him a checklist of things. The man checked them off, but really knew there was another thing that he wanted more than eternal life. He even asked Jesus, “What do I still lack?” The man knew and Jesus knew. So Jesus told him. Jesus brought it out in the open. The man was sad. He went away with a box unchecked. Am I missing something, he said? Yes he was.