13 Now listen to me, you that say, “Today or tomorrow we will travel to a certain city, where we will stay a year and go into business and make a lot of money.”
14 You don't even know what your life tomorrow will be! You are like a puff of smoke, which appears for a moment and then disappears.
15 What you should say is this: “If the Lord is willing, we will live and do this or that.”
16 But now you are proud, and you boast; all such boasting is wrong.
17 So then, if we do not do the good we know we should do, we are guilty of sin. (GNB)
Remember, the purpose of this letter is to emphasize works as a result of faith. Look back to the previous chapters - each ‘paragraph’ deals with how you should be living out your faith in Christ. Faith is not a ‘one-way’ activity in which you proclaim you believe in Jesus. Your life is changed by your faith in Christ. See: “Therefore if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creature; the old things passed away; behold, new things have come.” (2 Cor 5:17)
Notice the change in the way James addresses them? Some anger, some disdain vss 1-12; and some impatience vss 13-17.
V. 13 - “Today or tomorrow we will travel… we will stay a year… go into business… make a lot of money. ” - James is talking about a merchants, business men, making plans to grow their wealth. This is probably not referring to a local peddler or farmer. Although, the local businessman may have plans to increase the size of his store, farm, or ranch. [See note 1, below]
I do not think this is a teaching against business, making a profit, or work in general. If a business is to be successful, there must be planning and hard work to bring the plans to pass. We can see in Col 3:23 “Whatever you do, do your work heartily, as for the Lord rather than for men,” And we are reminded to be diligent in all that we do (Rom 12:11).
The issue James is addressing is that they are leaving God out of their plans. They are having “an affair with the world.” God’s will is not evident in the business plan - anywhere. We cannot serve two masters - the world and God (Mt 6:24). We become lovers of self (we are always that, but this shuns the Lord), boastful, and arrogant (2 Tim 3:2-4). And John’s letter reminds us to “not love the world…” (1 John 2:15) There is testing and trials that come with respect to wealth.
”We will…” - Definite plans of things to do, but without any mention of God and His will for their lives. This paragraph is not a screed against business. It is a warning against a mindset that leaves God out. James is urging us to take up a new norm for our human activity - ‘as God wills’ should be added to all of our planning. Saying, “We are selling our house and moving to Wyoming”, is making plans without the Lord. Or, “We are going to buy a house on the coast and use it for vacations”, is no better than the businessman planning his life out.
V. 14 - “You don't even know what your life tomorrow will be!” -
We don’t know the future. We cannot see one minute into the future. My wife had no idea several months ago that she would trip and fall while walking the dog, breaking her left wrist and right forearm, that she would need surgery to repair the damage. I never dreamed that I would tear a leg muscle while cleaning up a flower bed. Believe me, I would not have been working on my hands and knees that day had I known. She would not have walked the dog. See Pro 27:1 - “Do not boast about tomorrow, For you do not know what a day may bring forth.” Our lives are so fleeting, yet we have a false sense of security when things seem to be going well.
V. 15 - “What you should say is this: “If the Lord is willing, we will live and do this or that.” -
James is indicating that boasting about the future is an affront to God. Get yourself in the habit of saying, “If God wills…” when you are making plans.
More than saying that, get in the habit of asking God what He wants you to do. Ask Him for guidance. I remind God (although He doesn’t need it) that I am not a bright man, and don’t read clues real well. He knows that I don’t catch hints very well. It is not God’s fault. It is my lack.
When I graduated from college - an electrical engineering student out of OSU - I went through seemingly unending job interviews, with no prospects or offers. We were praying for God to show us the way. One day I mentioned to Donna that God may need to send me a letter because I wasn’t seeing any hope. Yup, you guessed it. A few days later, I got a letter from Hyster Company (they manufacture forklifts) for an interview, and got an offer. God met my need with a ‘miracle’ job - I may have been the only electrical engineer working at Hyster at that time - testing their prototype electric powered forklifts! Praise the Lord!
V. 16 - “But now you are proud, and you boast; all such boasting is wrong.” - They are not cheating others, or stealing. What are they not doing? They are not trusting God, not demonstrating faith in Jesus. This is a sinfulness of presumption - assuming you have things under control, and don’t need God. It could be the sin of arrogance, or the sin of thoughtlessness - mindlessly ignoring God and His place in your life. Disregarding God's will tantamount to saying, "I am sovereign..." The unbeliever will seldom have concern for God’s will in their life. But not you, Christian friend. No, not you, for Christ is in you and you have the choice of letting God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Spirit work out your life to His glory.
Look back to Jam 4:12 - God alone can save. God can guide you in the way He wants you to go. That is the recipe for humility - our lives are in His hands. See: “And there is no creature hidden from His sight, but all things are open and laid bare to the eyes of Him with whom we have to do.” (Heb 4:13)
V. 17 - “So then, if we do not do the good we know we should do, we are guilty of sin.” - Ponder on how this verse ties it all together. James reminds us that it is our duty to give preference to God’s will. It is both good to do God’s will, and we are reminded we are called to obey Him.
Paul gives us a couple of good examples of basing his actions on “God’s will…” (See: Acts 18:21; 1 Cor 4:19).
Jesus gave us the parable of the foolish man who was making plans without God (Luke 12:16-21). We also see that we need to put God’s will foremost in our planning, as Jesus said, “Not my will, but Thine, be done,” (Luke 22:42). Also, we will learn to love His will over our own. (See Note 2)
His will is not just to be suffered - doing it because we have to do it. We will begin to see His will as ‘good, acceptable, and perfect’ (Rom 12:2).
Note 1: James deals with rich people and riches in three sections of this letter; 1:10-11, 2:3-6, 4:13-17, and 5:1-6.
Note 2: Guarding against greed in your life is a theme that runs through the NT. See: “Then He said to them, “Beware, and be on your guard against every form of greed; for not even when one has an abundance does his life consist of his possessions.” (Luke 12:15) “being filled with all unrighteousness, wickedness, greed, evil; full of envy, murder, strife, deceit, malice; they are gossips,” (Rom 1:29) “But immorality or any impurity or greed must not even be named among you, as is proper among saints;” (Eph 5:3) “Therefore consider the members of your earthly body as dead to immorality, impurity, passion, evil desire, and greed, which amounts to idolatry.” (Col 3:5)
Note 3: Some thoughts to ponder - What purchase is highest on your list now?
If you won the lottery, how would you use the first $100,000?
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End of Chapter
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