#293 Time to Trust James 4.15 Part 3
So how do we live moment by moment in Christ when making plans is necessary?
“Come, you who say, ‘Today or tomorrow we will go to this or that city, and spend a year there and carry on a successful business,’ when you do not know what will happen tomorrow. For what is your life? Why, it is but a mist, which appears for a short time and then disappears. Instead of that you ought to say, “if it is the Lord’s will, we shall live and do this or that.’ But as it is, you boast in your presumption: all such boasting is evil. If, then, a man knows what is right and does not do it, he commits a sin.” James 4:13-17 Weymouth
Acknowledging God needs to take place in every area of our life. James uses a business context to illustrate this principle. As an owner of a business this point really impresses me. Business decisions belong to God. The spiritual must invade the secular, so that both are spiritual. Our business, our home life, our school and work ethic, our play and rest ethic, all must be to the glory of God. Proverbs 3:5-6; Colossians 3:17; 1 Corinthians 10:31;
You do not know what will happen tomorrow
It is easy to assume things about an unknown future that we really have no control over. We can make plans with little regard for God, as if we were in control of the future, or even the next moment. “…you get a certain pride in yourself in planning your future with such confidence. That sort of pride is all wrong.” James 4:16 Phillips
Life is but a mist, which appears for a short time and then disappears
Time is precious. We are fragile. Life is short. Eternity is long. Every minute counts. Oh, to be a faithful steward of the breath God has given me. Three texts resound in my ears: “Redeem the time” (Ephesians 5:16 ); “It is required of stewards that one be found trustworthy” (1 Corinthians 4:2); “His grace toward me was not in vain; but I labored even more than all of them, yet not I, but the grace of God with me” (1 Corinthians 15:10 ). Multnomah Books
If it is the Lord’s will, we shall live and do this or that
We have the responsibility to prayerfully WONDER and open our mind to what is His will, then to make a general plan, and then to hold that ‘general plan’ with a very light grip as we moment by moment seek His will. All kinds of surprises can come up, not interruptions, just the next one thing in Christ that we did not see ahead of time. We can then respond spontaneously to the step by step unfolding of His will.
If, then, a man knows what is right and does not do it, he commits a sin.
We realize that God is God we have the privilege and responsibility to act like God is God. If we do not seek His will in our planning and in the decisions we make as our day unfolds, it is a falling short of His glory and principles. We will miss the blessing of trusting Him and discerning His wisdom.
“Teach us to count our days rightly, that we may obtain a wise heart.” Psalm 90:12 Tenakh
So how do we live moment by moment in Christ when making plans is necessary?
“Come, you who say, ‘Today or tomorrow we will go to this or that city, and spend a year there and carry on a successful business,’ when you do not know what will happen tomorrow. For what is your life? Why, it is but a mist, which appears for a short time and then disappears. Instead of that you ought to say, “if it is the Lord’s will, we shall live and do this or that.’ But as it is, you boast in your presumption: all such boasting is evil. If, then, a man knows what is right and does not do it, he commits a sin.” James 4:13-17 Weymouth
Acknowledging God needs to take place in every area of our life. James uses a business context to illustrate this principle. As an owner of a business this point really impresses me. Business decisions belong to God. The spiritual must invade the secular, so that both are spiritual. Our business, our home life, our school and work ethic, our play and rest ethic, all must be to the glory of God. Proverbs 3:5-6; Colossians 3:17; 1 Corinthians 10:31;
You do not know what will happen tomorrow
It is easy to assume things about an unknown future that we really have no control over. We can make plans with little regard for God, as if we were in control of the future, or even the next moment. “…you get a certain pride in yourself in planning your future with such confidence. That sort of pride is all wrong.” James 4:16 Phillips
Life is but a mist, which appears for a short time and then disappears
Time is precious. We are fragile. Life is short. Eternity is long. Every minute counts. Oh, to be a faithful steward of the breath God has given me. Three texts resound in my ears: “Redeem the time” (Ephesians 5:16 ); “It is required of stewards that one be found trustworthy” (1 Corinthians 4:2); “His grace toward me was not in vain; but I labored even more than all of them, yet not I, but the grace of God with me” (1 Corinthians 15:10 ). Multnomah Books
If it is the Lord’s will, we shall live and do this or that
We have the responsibility to prayerfully WONDER and open our mind to what is His will, then to make a general plan, and then to hold that ‘general plan’ with a very light grip as we moment by moment seek His will. All kinds of surprises can come up, not interruptions, just the next one thing in Christ that we did not see ahead of time. We can then respond spontaneously to the step by step unfolding of His will.
If, then, a man knows what is right and does not do it, he commits a sin.
We realize that God is God we have the privilege and responsibility to act like God is God. If we do not seek His will in our planning and in the decisions we make as our day unfolds, it is a falling short of His glory and principles. We will miss the blessing of trusting Him and discerning His wisdom.
“Teach us to count our days rightly, that we may obtain a wise heart.” Psalm 90:12 Tenakh
