What if This Was Your Last Holiday Season?

What would you do? How would you live? With whom would you reconcile? How much extra time would you spend with your family? Would you prioritize making memories over giving gifts?

It’s always a bit morbid to consider your own mortality, but it should always be in the background of our mind. Here’s what the Bible says,

14 Why, you do not even know what will happen tomorrow. What is your life? You are a mist that appears for a little while and then vanishes. James 4:14

As depressing as it is to write this, for someone reading this post, this might be your last holiday season. The zinger is, we just don’t know who. So if we all treated this as our last holiday season, what would you do differently?

• I bet you would work to bury the hatchet with a family member and make things right.
• I guarantee you would savor every moment with your family.
• I know that you wouldn’t get as consumed with the distractions of football games, holiday sales and television specials. Instead, you would soak up every moment with the ones you love.
• I bet that you would be bolder to say things like “I love you” to those who need to hear it.

If this holiday season was your last, my guess is that your life would move off of you to those around you. You would focus less on distractions and more on what’s significant. You would take less opportunities to be lazy and turn them into opportunities to leave a legacy.

Hopefully you know where I’m going with this. Why don’t we all do that this holiday season? Let’s find ways to live beyond ourselves, to bless others, to pour into our families and live for something more than football games, holiday sales and television sales. Who knows, this may be your last chance.