We can make the best use of 2026

By Msgr. John Wynand Katende

Posted on Saturday, 3rd January 2026 

“I form light and create darkness; I make well-being and create calamity; I am the Lord who does all these things.” (Isaiah 45:7).

Time is known to be the most influential factor in this world. Our life is measured in terms of time. God is the creator and Lord of time. We are successful in life only when we make the best use of time, in the company of God. 

In Genesis 1:3-5, we learn that God is eternal and exists outside of time. “God said, ‘Let there be light,’ and there was light. And God saw that the light was good. And God separated the light from the darkness. God called the light Day, and the darkness he called Night. And there was evening, and there was morning, the first day.”

God’s sovereignty over time is also revealed when He names light “day,” darkness “night,” and frames both within a single, ordinary day marked by evening and morning. It is noteworthy that the beginning of time was marked by darkness. Light came after darkness, indicating the markers of a full day. In the Jewish tradition, days follow this pattern of night first, then day. Practicing Jews observe the Sabbath beginning on sunset on Friday until sunset on Saturday.

One example in the Gospels involves the burial of Jesus. Joseph of Arimathea placed Jesus in a nearby tomb just before sunset (John 19:42). Luke 23:54 reads, “It was the preparation day, and the Sabbath was about to begin”. The fact that the Sabbath began at sundown also explains why the two thieves’ deaths were hastened (John 19:31). The Christian liturgical day begins at six in the evening.

Christians celebrate New Year’s Day in the context of Christmas because Jesus is God and Lord of time. “When the time came to completion, God sent His Son, born of a woman,” (Galatians 4:4). When Jesus, the God-man, participated in earthly life for 33 years, He became the focal point of the world and biblical history. Since then, time is reckoned according to Him; hence, “Before Christ” (BC) and “In the year of Our Lord” (Anno Domini- AD). 

The Jewish festival of Lights, Hanukkah, starts on the eve of the Kislev 25 (the month in the Jewish calendar that occurs at about the same time as December). Christians believe that Jesus is the light of the world, so the early Christians thought that this was the right time to celebrate the birth of Jesus. Emperor Julius Caesar set the first of January as New Year’s Day, honoring Janus, the Roman god of beginnings.

As we celebrate God’s gift of time, He purifies us from our sin. He imparts new life and implants a new heart in us. Our desires change. We leave behind rebellion and disobedience and enter into a loving relationship with God. The more we grow in Christ, the more we realize how far we have to go. We can learn from our mistakes, but they are in the past and we need not stay there. By maintaining our focus on the goal, we are pulled heavenward (Philippians 3:13-14). 

We make New Year’s resolutions in the background of our weaknesses and how we might reduce the vulnerabilities they pose. We step outside the day-to-day activities to reflect, look back, take stock, assess how we did during the past year, and resolve to do better in the next.

As Christians, we are no longer slaves to sin, but alive to freedom in Christ (see Galatians 5:1). So, we value our life, renounce the cult of egoism, and resolve to render better service to God and to our neighbor. We resolve to treat people better, make new friends, and pay off debts and offer forgiveness.

In union with Jesus, we can make the best use of time. He is Emmanuel (God-with-us). He personified the day-to-day presence of God in our lives: “He went about doing good and healing all who were oppressed by the devil, for God was with him.” (Acts 10:38). As we celebrate we can trust in God’s good plans for our future (Jeremiah 29:11). Great is His faithfulness; His mercies begin afresh each day. In Him we realize a transformation that will eventually lead to the full enjoyment of eternal life in the new heavens and new earth.