Posted December 09, 2025
Pantone, a company that calls itself “the global authority for color communication and inspiration,” has announced that Cloud Dancer is its “color of the year” for 2026. I would call its selection “white,” but I’m in no sense a color authority.
However, I was interested in the stated reason for the choice: according to Time, “This year’s pick is meant to represent serenity and tranquility, which Pantone says is ever in need ‘in a frenetic society.’”
“Frenetic” is something I know something about. I suspect you do as well. Glance at these headlines:
Even in our fallen world, however, there is a path to “serenity and tranquility.” The paradox is that recognizing the former is essential to the latter.
A wise mentor once told me, “People don’t do what you expect—they do what you inspect.” I already knew this to be true, however.
Growing up, I was responsible for the cleanliness of my bedroom. My parents scheduled weekly inspections to this end, but they soon discovered that I could (and did) wait until an hour before their examination to do a week’s worth of cleaning. So they began drop-ins as well. These unannounced visits were most unwelcome, but they did have their desired effect with regard to the state of my room.
The fourth-century theologian St. Ephrem the Syrian similarly explained why Jesus said, “You do not know on what day your Lord is coming” (Matthew 24:42):
He has kept those things hidden so that we may keep watch, each of us thinking that he will come in our own day. . . . He promised that he would come but did not say when he would come, and so all generations and ages await him eagerly.
Then Ephrem added this observation I had not considered:
Keep watch; when the body is asleep nature takes control of us, and what is done is not done by our will but by force, by the impulse of nature. When deep listlessness takes possession of the soul, for example, faint-heartedness or melancholy, the enemy overpowers it and makes it do what it does not will. The force of nature, the enemy of the soul, is in control.
When the Lord commanded us to be vigilant, he meant vigilance in both parts of man: in the body, against the tendency to sleep; in the soul, against lethargy and timidity.
The Bible consistently calls us to prepare for eternity today (cf. Titus 2:13; 1 John 2:28; 1 Peter 4:7; Hebrews 10:24–25) As Jesus exhorted us, “You also must be ready, for the Son of Man is coming at an hour you do not expect” (Matthew 24:44).
Why is such readiness for the final Advent so imperative?
One obvious reason is that we are one day closer to eternity than ever before and have only today to be ready. Jesus could return to the world today (Acts 1:10–11), or we could step through death into eternity today (John 14:3).
But there’s another reason: living in the light of eternity today transforms today.
If you knew Jesus would return next week, what would you change this week? What would you do or stop doing? Whom would you forgive? From whom would you seek forgiveness?
Here’s the point: Living this way is the best way to live every day, even if we have many years before we see Jesus again. There is a “serenity and tranquility” to living in God’s perfect will that is found nowhere else. First15, Denison Ministries’ devotional resource, explains:
Without a real revelation of eternity, this life will be marked by hopelessness and a sense of aimless wandering. Only when our destination comes into view can we rightly see the circumstances strewn along the journey of this life. . . .
When we live seeking satisfaction from the things of the world, we live as if heaven didn’t exist and God didn’t usher in his kingdom through Jesus. The things of this world only have value in the Giver of all good gifts. So our possessions, relationships, and work only have value here because they are a shadow of what is to come when all things are made new.
Being in God’s will every day is the vital commitment that leads to his “abundant” life and our best (John 10:10). So, how can we live in his perfect will every day?
Let’s close with five biblical reminders:
One: Remember the brevity of life every day (Psalm 39:4–5; 90:12). Thomas Ken advised, “Let those who thoughtfully consider the brevity of life remember the length of eternity.”
Two: Submit to the Holy Spirit every day (Ephesians 5:18; Romans 12:1–2). Scripture teaches, “Walk by the Spirit, and you will not gratify the desires of the flesh” (Galatians 5:16). In today’s My Utmost for His Highest, Oswald Chambers warned: “Beware of refusing to go to the funeral of your independence.”
Three: Think and live biblically every day (John 8:31–32). John Calvin noted: “Scripture is like a pair of spectacles which dispels the darkness and gives us a clear view of God.”
Four: Seek intimacy with Jesus every day (John 15:5). In the Proslogion, St. Anselm (1033–1109) prayed:
Teach me to seek you, and reveal yourself to me when I seek you, for I cannot seek you unless you teach me, nor find you unless you reveal yourself. Let me seek you in longing, let me long for you in seeking; let me find you by loving you and love you in the act of finding you.
If one of the greatest theological geniuses in Christian history needed to pray this, how much more do we?
Five: Share Christ with the world every day (Acts 1:8). A mentor once asked me, “When you see Jesus again, if he asks you, ‘Whom did you bring me?’, what will you say?”
How would you respond today?
“There comes a moment when we all must realize that life is short, and in the end the only thing that really counts is not how others see us, but how God sees us.” —Billy Graham
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