Nothing evokes panic in me more than books like 1,000 Places to See Before You Die. The authors of books like this must not be the rule-following, checklist maker that I am. Unless all those spectacular places are within a reasonable driving distance of my home, I won’t be able to check them all off of my bucket list.

So let’s boil it down to something a little more attainable for ourselves, like One Thing to Do Before You Die. What would that one thing be?

Take a look at your relationships. Is there one person you want to reconcile with while you still can? Someone who harmed you or someone you harmed? Perhaps you need to forgive—or ask for forgiveness. 

And how about that one person in your life who doesn’t yet know Jesus? You know who that person is, and you want that person to spend eternity in heaven.

Our time on this earth is short, and we don’t know when Jesus will return on the final day. The apostle Paul cautions us, “Now, brothers and sisters, about times and dates we do not need to write to you, for you know very well that the day of the Lord will come like a thief in the night” (1 Thessalonians 5:1,2).

If you’re a checklist person, add that one thing to your list right now: Today I am going to reach out to __________________. Or, today I am going to share Jesus with __________________.