Series:Living Each Day Before God – A Journey of Purpose and Grace 

What wisdom rises when we stand at the edge of life and look back? When the noise fades, the ambitions quiet, and the calendar runs out, what truly matters?

Those who have sat beside the dying often speak of a sacred clarity that fills the room. Regrets surface, not about missed promotions or larger houses, but about relationships left unrepaired, risks never taken, words of love left unspoken. Many have echoed similar reflections: I wish I had not worked so much. I wish I had expressed my feelings more openly. I wish I had lived true to who I was. Rarely does anyone say, “I wish I had accumulated more.”

Facing the end has a way of stripping life down to its essentials.

The psalmist prayed in Psalm 39:4, “Lord, make me know my end and what is the measure of my days; let me know how fleeting I am.” This is not a morbid request. It is a prayer for perspective. When we remember that life is brief, we begin to measure it differently. We become more intentional with our time, more careful with our words, more generous with our love.

Ecclesiastes 7:2 offers a surprising truth: “It is better to go to a house of mourning than to go to a house of feasting, for death is the destiny of everyone; the living should take this to heart.” In other words, reflection on mortality can teach us more than celebration ever could. It forces us to ask the questions we often avoid: Am I living aligned with what I truly value? Am I walking closely with God? Am I loving well?

There was a moment in my own life when mortality shifted my priorities. Standing beside someone dear in their final days, I sensed how fragile and sacred time is. Conversations felt weightier. Silence felt holy. I realized how easily we postpone what matters most—assuming we will have another opportunity, another season, another year. Yet life does not always grant extensions.

That experience did not fill me with fear; it filled me with urgency. Not frantic urgency—but purposeful urgency. To reconcile quickly. To forgive freely. To speak gratitude generously. To choose presence over distraction.

Regrets, when faced honestly, can become guiding lights. They reveal what we value too late—and invite us to live differently now. We cannot rewrite yesterday, but we can reshape today.

So ask yourself: What can you do now so that you will not carry regret later? Is there someone you need to call? A step of obedience you have delayed? A dream God placed in your heart that fear has silenced? Is your relationship with Christ vibrant—or merely habitual?

The brevity of life is not meant to paralyze us; it is meant to focus us. Every ordinary day is a sacred gift. Every decision quietly shapes eternity.

Before the final breath comes,and it will for us all,let us live in such a way that our hearts are at peace. Let us invest in what lasts: faith, love, obedience, reconciliation. Let us treasure Christ above temporary pursuits.

Live with purpose. Choose wisely. Love deeply. 

Eternity is not only ahead of you, it is being shaped by the choices you make today.