http://bible.com/events/48841888
James and Tomorrow
Tomorrow belongs to God and God alone.
James 4:13-17
Now listen, you who say, “Today or tomorrow we will go to this or that city, spend a year there, carry on business and make money.” Why, you do not even know what will happen tomorrow. What is your life? You are a mist that appears for a little while and then vanishes. Instead, you ought to say, “If it is the Lord’s will, we will live and do this or that.” As it is, you boast in your arrogant schemes. All such boasting is evil. If anyone, then, knows the good they ought to do and doesn’t do it, it is sin for them.
-The specific reason James points us here is not because of the ‘what’ but because of the ‘why’.
-James is not condemning the actions specifically of planning ahead, or running a successful business. He is pointing to the motivation behind the actions.
1. As we live our lives, we must have a proper view of our lives.
-“What is your life? You are a mist that appears for a little while and then vanishes.” (Verse 14)
2. As we live our lives, we must have a proper view of God.
-“Instead, you ought to say, ‘If it is the Lord’s will, we will live and do this or that.’ ” (Verse 15)
3. Living in such a way without this perspective is not just unwise, it is boastful and evil.
-“As it is, you boast in your arrogant schemes. All such boasting is evil.” (Verse 16)
John 6:38
For I have come down from heaven not to do my will but to do the will of him who sent me.
Bottom Line:
Tomorrow belongs to God and God alone.
Verses for further study/reflection:
James 4:13-17
And now I have a word for you who brashly announce, “Today—at the latest, tomorrow—we’re off to such and such a city for the year. We’re going to start a business and make a lot of money.” You don’t know the first thing about tomorrow. You’re nothing but a wisp of fog, catching a brief bit of sun before disappearing. Instead, make it a habit to say, “If the Master wills it and we’re still alive, we’ll do this or that.” As it is, you are full of your grandiose selves. All such vaunting self-importance is evil. In fact, if you know the right thing to do and don’t do it, that, for you, is evil.
John 6:35-38
Then Jesus declared, “I am the bread of life. Whoever comes to me will never go hungry, and whoever believes in me will never be thirsty. But as I told you, you have seen me and still you do not believe. All those the Father gives me will come to me, and whoever comes to me I will never drive away. For I have come down from heaven not to do my will but to do the will of him who sent me.
James in 8 Minutes
This overview video on the book of James breaks down the literary design of the book and its flow of thought. In this book, James combines the wisdom of his brother Jesus with the book of Proverbs in his own challenging call to live a life wholly devoted to God.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qn-hLHWwRYY
Proverbs 27:1
Job 14:5
Ecclesiastes 9:12
Psalm 103:15
1 Peter 1:24