Our filling only leads to more emptiness.
By Chet Gladkowski
In the movie “The Bucket List[ 1], Carter Chambers and Edward Cole are facing certain death from terminal cancer. Rather than throwing a pity party for themselves and just sitting around, they put together a Bucket List. It’s the big and exciting things they’ve always wanted to do before they “kicked the bucket”. I especially like how Jack Nicholson and Morgan Freeman talk about the things they want to experience before their death[2].
This idea resonates so much with today’s approach to life. Just about everyone says that we need to figure out what we want from this life and then just do it. To seize the day. Grab life by the horns. Go for the gusto. To do anything and everything that will satisfy our lives with money, possessions, power, and experiences.
And just in case you think I’m making too much of this, the global marketplace for active and exciting travel experiences is more than a $1 trillion opportunity Gone are the days where people passively parade past something. They want to feel and live something big. “Experiences have become powerful decision drivers for travelers: the possibility of a life-changing travel moment motivates people to book a trip” [3].
This is exactly how the movie starts. Together, Carter and Edward list the things that they think will give them excitement. Meaning. Purpose. Fulfillment. And then they start checking them off. Skydiving and racing a Shelby Mustang and a Dodge Challenger around a racetrack are the first adrenaline-pumping things they do. Then they ride motorcycles on the Great Wall of China, visit the Taj Mahal, go on a lion safari, sit atop the Great Pyramid of Giza.
Eventually, they turn toward more significant experiences. The movie ends with helping a complete stranger. Kissing the most beautiful girl in the world. Laughing until I cry. In the end, their ashes and the completed Bucket List are laid to rest on top of a mountain where they can witness something truly majestic[4].
Maybe it’s the time of my life, but this Bucket List idea has been rattling around in my head more and more. You know, those exciting images in the back of your mind that you really want to experience. The places we deeply desire to visit. And now, you wonder whether you’ll ever do them.
I can’t explain it, but I have wanted to visit Machu Picchu[5] for a long, long time. When I see that abandoned city high in the Andes Mountains, my jaw drops. I’m just so amazed. How could they cut and move those giant stones without metal tools, the wheel, or writing? And then to construct those walls and buildings without a single drop of mortar.
Now, I’ve come to admit that I’m never going to walk among those ancient and amazing ruins. After back surgery, two hip and one knee replacements, not to mention a repaired shattered ankle with seven screws and a metal plate, I can’t see any way to get there unless I can get dropped off at the top by helicopter. But that’s not possible. Why? Because through Law No. 28296, the Peruvian government has outlawed all aircraft from entering the airspace above the ruins. Yes, I checked it out.
But that’s not why I’ve been chewing on the Bucket List idea and image in my mind. It’s because of the rough and weary road we’ve been walking with some dear friends. Months after being declared cancer free, the husband was diagnosed with pancreatic cancer. This past weekend, we had a celebration of life service to thank God, remembering his life while offering comfort to his family and friends.
Receiving one of the great honors of my life, I was asked to be one of the speakers. But that blessing came with a cost. I agonized over what to say. How do you summarize a well lived life in only 12 minutes?
Then it hit me. I needed to change my mind and completely restructure my Bucket List thinking. Turn it upside down. Instead of our Bucket List being things that we fill our lives with, let’s redefine it. Turn it right-side up. Make our Bucket List the place where we give from.
After all, isn’t that a Jesus kind of Bucket List?
- For even the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give His life as a ransom for many (Mark 10:45).
- For I have come down from heaven, not to do my own will, but the will of Him who sent me (John 6:38).
- Instead He emptied himself by assuming the form of a servant, taking on the likeness of humanity (Philippians 2:7).
Jesus didn’t come to fill His Bucket List, but to empty it.
We need to stop looking at life as a Bucket List to keep on filling and filling. Let’s decide to make our Bucket List the place where our giving comes from. Since Jesus promises His followers His abundant life that spills over to bless others (see John 10:10), He’s the ultimate source for our living. For our giving.
A Jesus Bucket List isn’t about accomplishments and things. It’s focused on having a heart that looks to give rather than to take or receive (see Acts 20:35).
Therefore, I urge you, brothers and sisters, in view of God’s mercy, to offer your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and pleasing to God—this is your true and proper worship.
Romans 12:1 NIV
Imagine a life where your Bucket List leads to worship. Being filled with God and His Spirit. Being focused and energized on living for Jesus. Living like Jesus and not wallowing in our own emptiness. No regrets. No guilt on what might have been. Celebrating who God is. All He’s done. All He’s going to do.
Today is the great day to start reviewing, rewriting, and renewing your Bucket List. And as you turn it over in your mind, turn it over to Jesus. Change it from being all about us and let it be all about others.
Soli Deo gloria
Dedicated to Terry Wilson
Jul 8, 1953 — Jun 17, 2026
Maryville, TN
[1] The Bucket List, directed and produced by Rob Reiner, written by Justin Zackham (2007; Hollywood, Warner Bros. Pictures)
[2] https://youtu.be/LgaZfQbRxkU?si=qmYpXKAx_Kt2w4Wv
[3] The Evolving Role of Experiences in Travel, McKinsey & Company, September 17, 2024
[4] https://youtu.be/ntWbgtdHe6g?si=wX8_mtNlhmeeBsZm
[5] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Machu_Picchu
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