Here’s a question for you: How would you live if you knew this day was your last day on earth?
This question is presented in hundreds of motivational books, seminars, and lectures. Sometimes it’s worded differently, but the concept is the same: Live every day as if it were your last. The unfortunate thing about often-repeated phrases is that they can soon lose their meaning.
It’s also a difficult question to answer—at least if you’re not really dying the next day. Most people say that they’d use that last day to do something good. They would reconnect with those who are important to them. They’d do something to help others. They’d right some wrong. They’d forgive and ask for forgiveness. It seems many people see it as a day of redemption—a day to make up for all that they failed to do throughout their lives.
The point is, live your life in such a way that you don’t need a last day to set everything right. This is easier said than done, though. We can get so caught up in the busyness of life that we fail to think about 1 the important stuff—the things that will make our lives count.
So how do you live each day as if it were your last? We can learn from the life of Jesus, as in all things, about what truly matters in our everyday lives.
Jesus was aware that His time on earth was coming to a close. His mission on earth was nearly complete and He knew that He would soon be betrayed and executed. So how did He live during His last 24 hours?
He was humble. He set aside time with His disciples where He shared a meal with them. First, though, He welcomed each of them by washing their feet. Foot washing was a job generally given to the lowest servant. People walked around in sandals on dusty, muddy roads, so most feet were pretty grungy. But Jesus showed His disciples great love and humility by stooping to wash their feet. He made Himself a servant 2.
He was yielded and obedient. He faced the prospect of torture and death. It was so difficult and He prayed so desperately that He was sweating drops of blood. But He trusted that His Father knew best, and said, “Not my will, but yours, be done” 3.
He was unconditionally loving. He was betrayed, but He didn’t retaliate. He was mistreated, yet He didn’t lose His temper. Those closest to Him turned their backs on Him, but He didn’t react in anger. He was wrongfully accused and humiliated, but He held His tongue 4.
He was honest. When He was brought before His judges—first the Sanhedrin and then Pilate—they asked Him straight out, “Are you the Son of God?” He could have saved Himself a lot of pain and anguish by simply skirting the truth. But He upheld the truth, no matter what the cost 5.
He was forgiving. After being whipped, mocked, spit on, and dragged through the streets to hang on a cross, He said, “Father, forgive them.” He could have called down fire and lightning on His tormentors and cursed them for hurting the Son of God. But instead, He forgave them even as they mocked and insulted Him 6.
He was unselfish. Despite the agony of hanging on the cross, He took time to make sure His mother would be cared for. He took time to listen to the thief dying beside Him, and to reassure him as he died. Instead of thinking about Himself and the pain He was in, He thought of others and their well-being 7.
The way Jesus spent His last day was no different from the way He lived His whole life. That day, like every day, He found opportunities to love, to give, to forgive, and to share His Father’s love with others.
Jesus lived every day as if it were His last because honesty, humility, love, forgiveness, and kindness were an integral part of His nature. Living each day as your last is about spending your time and energy on the important things—things that won’t fade with time, but will last through eternity.