What do you understand?

A second grader came home from school and said to her mother, "Mom, guess what? We learned how to make babies today."

You can imagine that the mother was more than a little bit surprised, thinking that she should have signed some sort of paper stating the teacher could start offering such information. And she thought, "Isn’t second grade a little early?" But she kept her cool anyway.

"That's interesting," she said to her little girl, "How do you make babies?"

"It’s simple," the little girl said. "You just change ‘y’ to ‘i’ and add ‘es’."

Amazing, isn’t it, how you think you know what someone is talking about and you don’t? That’s why listening to life today for what God has to say is so important in your spiritual growth. That’s why listening to life and making a life, not just a living is so critical to your joy. You assume you know what someone means, even God, and oftentimes don’t.

So as you listen to life and make a life, not just a living today, listen with an open heart. God may mean something different than what you’re thinking.

Do you keep an “ought to” list or a “want to” list?

So what kind of lists do you keep? Not just the ones you write down, but the ones running around in your head—what do you call those lists?

Do you keep an "ought to" list in mind? You know, I "ought to" do this. I "ought to" do that. I guess most of us do. I’m not exactly sure where we get these lists.

What about a "want to" list? Do you keep one of those in mind? The kind where you list your heart’s desires, your soul’s longings, your spirit’s passion.

Which list gets more of your daily attention?

If you discovered today that you’ll die around 8PM, which list would you go to—the "ought to" or the "want to"?

Yea, I thought so. Your "want to" list is a part of your spiritual DNA that God put in you. Your "ought to" list was installed by someone else.

Today, remember that you’re free to choose which list to live from. Use your freedom wisely and choose God’s list, okay?