What do you have planned for today? What about tomorrow? What about next year? Read James 4:13-17 and let’s talk about it and talk about us.
A common thread throughout this chapter (as well as beyond and before) is the need for humility. Arrogance leads to conflict with both man and God (see vv. 1-3). Humility is the cure for both, as it is related to purity of heart with God and peace with man (see vv. 8 and 11-12).
In the text of 4:13-17 James considers an additional way in which arrogance can manifest itself. The somewhat subtle symptom of this arrogance is an improper consideration of one’s control of life. At the heart of the matter is the fragile nature of life and the sovereign will of All-Mighty God.
The text addresses the business man (in verse 13) that has planned to go to a certain city and make a profit over the course of a year’s time. The problem here is not one of making money. The problem is not in planning for the future. The problem is the spirit of arrogance that does not take into consideration the uncertainties of this life, and even one’s own life. (Compare this with the parable Jesus told about the man who was going to tear down barns and build bigger one’s – Lk. 12:16-21.)
There are many things we simply do not know (v. 14). Although all reasonable people understand their own mortality to some degree, it is amazingly easy to live without much thought of it. This man has planned a year in advance, yet in reality, he does not know what will happen tomorrow (or even today!) He has need, as all do, of living with the most basic question in mind: “What is life?” (v. 14). Living with an understanding of the answer to this question in one’s heart and mind can change life and even eternity.
James describes life as a “mist” (“vapor” – KJV). One could hardly imagine a more fleeting description of life! Life can be here for a moment and then gone the next, sometimes with little or no warning. (See Job’s description of life’s brevity – Job 7:6-10. See also Prov. 27:1.)
Proper humility before the Lord, the Giver and Sustainer of our lives, requires us to plan and live daily knowing that we are certainly not in full control. James says, “you ought to say, ‘If the Lord wills, we live and do this or that’” (v. 15). The idea is not that we must pronounce this formula with every step we intend to take, but that we “ought” (must) to live humbly in this temporary abode. There is nothing we will do that God does not allow us to do. And, of course, Christians will most certainly only desire to do things which are in accordance with the will of God.
In the final verse of the text, James says, “So whoever knows the right thing to do and fails to do it, for him it is sin” (v. 17). The word “So” certainly indicates a connection with the previous verses. The right thing to do is to live humbly, dependently and prayerfully with our God as we seek to honor Him in this brief journey of life.
Daren Schroeder
