In Genesis 5 we find the phrase- "and he died" used 8 times in this one chapter. According to this chapter these men are mentioned and their life span: Adam (930), Seth (912), Enos (959), Cainan (910), Mahalaleel (895), Jared (962), Methuselah (969) and Lamech (977). As far as we know the oldest age a man lived to be was 969 years old; his name was Methuselah, but even he died.

Why did men live so long? Some say it was because they did not have the pollutants in their world we have in ours. Dr. B. H. Carroll gives this simple explanation. He says the fruit of the tree of life was designed to eliminate the morality of the body. Since Adam and Eve ate of this in the garden, it may have taken generations before the effects of the eating of this fruit would be eliminated from the bodies of the descendants of Adam.

Little did I realize that last Christmas would be the last one I would be able to spend with my mother upon this earth. People are born, but one day, due to the mortality of man we die. Think about it, what if this were your last Christmas upon this earth with your family?

I. Make Sure You Are Saved. We all have an appointment with death, yet, we do not know the time, the place, or the circumstances of our departure. That is why a person must know that he or she is ready to meet the Lord; one must know Christ as personal Savior. Read John 3:16-18. You cannot afford to gamble with your soul.

II. Make Sure You Are Sold Out. So many folks who claimed to know the Lord spend too much time trying to gratify the sin nature. We should be sold out to the Lord in mind, body and spirit (Rom. 12:1,2). The Christian life is no game, it is something that demands our soul, our life and our all. God deserves and demands your best.

III. Make Sure You Are Sensitive. What I mean by that is that you are sensitive to the needs of those you love. It is good to be what we ought to be to them while we are living. Once our life is lived, it is like a tale that has been told. It is too late then to do what we should have done toward them while we lived upon planet earth.

IV. Make Sure You Are Submissive. A wife should be to her husband (Eph.5:22); children to parents (Eph. 6:1); church members to their spiritual leader (Heb.13:17); and Christians to laws(1Pet.2:13). What if this were your final Christmas on earth?