Teach us to realize the brevity of life,
so that we may grow in wisdom.
Psalm 90:12 NLT
Recently I was reminded of two things about life. The first is that we do not know how much time each of us have left here on earth. The second is that what we do with the time we have left matters. These reminders came courtesy of my Pastor during his Sunday sermon. He encouraged us to be mindful of the brevity of life and to consider three areas in our lives to be more intentional about in 2026. Just a few hours later, my family received word of a young family member that suddenly died. In that moment, the brevity of life became painfully real.
The uncertainty of life makes each day a gift from God. Appreciation for this gift can be shown by how we choose to live each day. With that in mind, I pose the following questions:
What will you do with the time you have left here on earth?
How will you live each day God gifts you in 2026?
Nuggets of wisdom for our remaining days
In June 2025, I started the journey of walking daily through the book of Psalms. This week I hit Psalm 119, the longest chapter in the Bible with 176 verses. In the first 16 verses, I found nuggets of wisdom to help us experience true joy, God’s blessings and a continuous heart of praise for the remaining time we have left. Here are eight nuggets discovered from Psalm 119:1-16:
- Seek the Lord and follow His precepts/commands wholeheartedly
- Stay away from evil and walk fully in His ways
- Determine that your life will reflect Christ and not the world
- Remain an ongoing learner/student of the word of God
- Choose to make God’s word your standard to remain on the right path
- Keep God’s word close to your heart through practices such as daily Bible study and scripture memorization.
- Do not neglect God’s word but make space daily for Him to teach you
- Encourage others by sharing what you have learned. Don’t keep it to yourself!
Not just any wisdom
In this loud and bold world, we have many choices about who and where we can go for wisdom and guidance. As followers of Christ, many of these choices seek to distract us from living out God’s best. For around every corner, exists a lifestyle, a mindset, a behavior that is contrary to the way of God. This is when wisdom is needed to know what is of God and a full understanding that if it is not of God and His nature, it is against God and what is best for us. This type of wisdom is acquired by consistent quality time with the Lord in His word and prayer along with the discerning help of the Holy Spirit.
Why is such wisdom important? Because what we do (or don’t do) matters to God and influences our quality of life as well as the lives of our loved ones here on earth. We will be held accountable for everything we do here on earth, whether good or bad (See 2 Corinthians 5:10). Godly wisdom is essential if we wish to live our remaining time honoring God and blessing those around us. Any other wisdom we seek out, is really us settling for less. Not sure about that? We need not look far in our local and global communities to see the consequences of bypassing godly wisdom.
Already counting down to 2027
2026 is already on the countdown to 2027 and every day is one day closer to the moment we shall leave this earth.
So, what will you do with the time you have left?
Will you live each day wisely, showing your appreciation for the gift of another day?
Will you incorporate practices such as meditating on His precepts and storing up His word in your heart so you can experience daily God’s presence, His joy and His blessings?
Will you move through 2026 with a heart of praise for all God has done for you and share your testimony with others?
Or…
Will you traverse 2026 unwisely, choosing instead to align more with the world and less with the very One who knows exactly the length of your life? (see Psalm 139:16 and Job 14:5)
Remember…
- Our time on earth gets shorter each day.
- What we do with that remaining time matters.
May we, the body of Christ, keep this in mind and choose to walk in godly wisdom in 2026.
Considerations 