Come now, you who say, “Today or tomorrow we will go into such and such a town and spend a year there and trade and make a profit”— 14 yet you do not know what tomorrow will bring. What is your life? For you are a mist that appears for a little time and then vanishes. 15 Instead you ought to say, “If the Lord wills, we will live and do this or that.” 16 As it is, you boast in your arrogance. All such boasting is evil. 17 So whoever knows the right thing to do and fails to do it, for him it is sin. (James 4:13-17)
Introduction
As we move into the rest of chapter 4 today, James gives more proverbial wisdom, which flows from the previous section.
We left on in verse 11-12 where God is the Law Giver, and in verse 13 and following, James communicates the fact that God is also the giver of time, and of our days. So James addresses those who hold the law in contempt and then those who hold providence in contempt. Man is tempted to think that he is the judge of the law and the judge of time – of his days. But God is over both. He is the judge who judges our deeds and He is the author of our time, determining the number of our days.
The answer is what we saw last week: humility and submitting to God in all things. Submitting to God’s moral law and submitting to His judgment upon the wicked is one thing, but it is yet harder for many Christians to submit to God’s sovereignty over their days and times. In foolishness we are tempted to think that we are in charge and we are in control of our life plans, and we will determine where we go and what we do and how we spend our days. But James reminds us here that even in this we must be humble and submit to God for we have no power over a single second of our lives and no guarantee of even the next breath.
So James starts this section saying, “Come now, you who say…” You’ll see that he does this again in chapter 5. This is a literary device meant to grab the attention of the reader, essentially saying, listen here, pay attention, consider this… Indeed the subject matter is one in which we would do well to really consider and listen to, for it is one which we often neglect to seriously reflect upon and think about – the brevity and uncertainty of our lives. But it is one which is worthy to think upon and understand, if we are we to live to the utmost in this life. People today often do not want to think about death or the shortness of life, or the abruptness at which it could end. The modern sentiment is just to live in the moment, do what feels good to you, and enjoy your life. But truly, if we want to make the absolute most with the time we have been given, it will require a sincere consideration of the fleeting nature of our lives and the uncertainty of them.
Indeed this passage recalls to mind the prayer of Psalm 90:12, “So teach us to number our days that we may get a heart of wisdom.” So this is more wisdom that James is imparting to us – there is wisdom to be had in considering our short lives and the number of our days – a very important consideration when you meet trials of various kinds.
The Parable, v. 13
So James calls his readers to hear and consider and he gives them a mini parable of some of their lives. “…you who say, ‘Today or tomorrow we will go into such and such a town and spend a year there and trade and make a profit’ – yet you do not know what tomorrow will bring.” So James sets this up as a negative thing, even a sinful thing as he connects it to boasting in arrogance in verse 16. Such ones make all these plans for what they are going to do, where they are going to go, the business they are going to conduct, and the profit they are going to make. If you’ve ever made plans to do business or work and make money, you know how quickly the money can be gone or the business can evaporate. So James says, “You don’t even know what tomorrow will bring, let alone the next year in this town or that, in this business or that.”
Now what is it that James is condemning here? Is he condemning the making of plans for your life, the future, or business? No, this is not what he is condemning. We know that there is nothing wrong with making plans. In fact, it is a good thing. It is indeed wise to plan and to be prepared for the future. Proverbs 21:5 says, “The plans of the diligent lead surely to abundance…” Jesus speaks to the necessity of planning when he talks about the cost of discipleship in Luke 14 when He appeals to His hearers, saying, “Who, when considering to build a tower, does not first sit down and count the cost, whether he has enough to complete it? Or what king when going to war does not first deliberate on whether he is able to meet the enemy on the battlefield?” So it is not preparation and planning that is condemned. Indeed these are good things, and it is foolish to fail to plan.
Could it be the desire to make a profit that James condemns? Again, here we say “No, this is not what James is condemning.” A profit is a necessity of life in order to provide for your family, give to others, and can even be a blessing from God. Rightly ordered and moderated it is a good desire. Even in the parable of the talents, which Jesus told, the master expected his servants to make a profit, and the one who did not was condemned for hiding his talents in the ground.
Boasting in Arrogance is Evil, v. 16
We needn’t wonder, James makes it clear what he condemns in verse 16. It is the fact of their boasting in their arrogance, which he calls evil boasting. And it is knowing the right thing to do, and failing to do it, which is sin for such a one. So those who James calls out are those who make such bold sins in their arrogance and boast about it, all the while failing to do what they know they should do. It is a wise thing to plan and prepare, but it is a sinful, evil thing to boast and be arrogant about what you say you will do. It is the sin of presumption. It is arrogance to presume that we are guaranteed tomorrow, or next year, or success in this endeavor or that. It is the sin of pride to plan according to your own wisdom and abilities apart from humble submission to the Lord. It is evil to boast in your own might rather than humble gratitude for each breath that is given to us as a gift.
We have had a week now to reflect upon the apparent assassination attempt of president Trump. Whatever your view on Donald Trump or that event, I do not bind your conscience on. But it was a historic event in our nation’s history, one which the president was an apparent hair’s breadth away from death. One man in the crowd did lose his life that day. Our nation, our neighbors, and ourselves are reminded of the uncertainty of life and how quickly it can change, and that every moment is a gift from God. The man in the crowd who died did not wake up that morning knowing that it would be his last. You do not know what tomorrow will bring. What is your life?
Why?
James does give us some reasons here as to why this boasting and arrogance is evil. Why is boasting in the future evil? Because such boasting presumes to know the future which is to presume the omniscience of God, even if not in those terms. Only God is all knowing. Only God has decreed the end from the beginning. We can’t know the future let alone decree the future. This is what James says, very simply and yet profoundly in verse 14, “…you do not know what tomorrow will bring.” That is very simple and obvious to us, yet how often do we actually think we know what tomorrow will bring? We think we know what tomorrow will bring, we think we know how this business plan will go, we think we know how such and such a meeting will go, and on and on. Certainly much of life in God’s orderly world contains routine and patterns, and dependability, and the principle of sowing and reaping is part of life. So there is a sense there in which we can know things about the future. But ultimately we don’t know what tomorrow will bring. If businessmen knew their business would fail the business would never fail because they’d sell or get out or make other plans before the collapse. People lose money in business ventures because they didn’t know they would. And such instances are reminders that we do not know what tomorrow will bring.
Consider the proverbs. Proverbs 16:9, “The heart of man plans his way, but the LORD establishes his steps.” Proverbs 19:21, “Many are the plans in the mind of a man, but it is the purpose of the LORD that will stand.” And Proverbs 27:1, which James clearly is drawing from here, “Do not boast about tomorrow, for you do not know what a day may bring.” We make plans. We work, but God carries them. God brings them to success or to naught. So boasting about tomorrow is condemned because you do not know what tomorrow may bring.
There is a parable that Jesus tells in Luke 12 that has an interesting connection to our passage in James.
Someone in the crowd said to him, “Teacher, tell my brother to divide the inheritance with me.” 14 But he said to him, “Man, who made me a judge or arbitrator over you?” 15 And he said to them, “Take care, and be on your guard against all covetousness, for one’s life does not consist in the abundance of his possessions.” 16 And he told them a parable, saying, “The land of a rich man produced plentifully, 17 and he thought to himself, ‘What shall I do, for I have nowhere to store my crops?’ 18 And he said, ‘I will do this: I will tear down my barns and build larger ones, and there I will store all my grain and my goods. 19 And I will say to my soul, “Soul, you have ample goods laid up for many years; relax, eat, drink, be merry.”’ 20 But God said to him, ‘Fool! This night your soul is required of you, and the things you have prepared, whose will they be?’ 21 So is the one who lays up treasure for himself and is not rich toward God.” (Luke 12:13-21)
So this rich fool had all these plans for his wealth and the enjoyment of his life apart from God. He thought he had so much time to carry out these plans, but that night his soul was required of him. The interesting connection to this passage in James is the context in which Jesus tells this parable. Two brothers are disputing over how to divide their inheritance and Jesus warns them against covetousness, and then gives this parable. This goes well with the whole of James 4 where we saw last week warnings against covetousness. One way in which covetousness is combatted is with recognizing the uncertainty and the brevity of your life.
“You do not know what tomorrow will bring.” Such a statement reorients us to God. It reminds us that we are not God, we are not sovereigns over our lives. Our lives are in His hands. God is sovereign. Only He knows what tomorrow will bring, for He has declared it. And in His providence, God cares for us in our lives and brings things to pass. He knows what we need. He knows how to care for us. And we are to trust in Him. This is submitting our times to Him, entrusting ourselves to His care, believing His promises that all things work together for good for those who love Him and are called according to His purpose. If Christ is yours and you are Christ’s, then you can rest and know that all of God’s providences in your life are from His fatherly care and love for you in Jesus. We don’t know the future, for we are to trust in God, which is all we can do with the future. We are in His loving hands.
Isaiah 64:8, “But now, O LORD, you are our Father; we are the clay, and you are our potter; we are all the work of your hand.”
Do you trust Him? Some boast about the future, while others are anxious over the future, which Jesus talks about after that parable in Luke 12. In each case, what we need is to relinquish control, consider our lives, and consider God’s care for His children, and submit ourselves and our times to Him.
Not only does James say “you do not know what tomorrow will bring,” He also says, “You are a mist that appears for a little time then vanishes.” What a profound perspective. How quickly does a mist vanish as soon as it appears? It is a vapor. It is quickly fleeting. This is Solomonic wisdom. How vain to try and chase after a mist and prolong it and capture it. You cannot do it. There is no room here for arrogant boasting. And how should one mist envy another mist? How about enduring trials and loving the brethren? It’s just for a short time.
The shortness of our lives calls us to live unto God, to sow eternal seeds for the glory of Christ, to love one another, to be quick repenters in our lives, to give our all for things that matter. This speaks to the sins of omission in verse 17. Don’t delay in doing what you know you ought to do – you do not know if this night your soul will be required of you! Do you need to repent? Do it now. Do not be foolish, do not be arrogant to think you will have time tomorrow or next week or next year.
I think of the great line from a poem which says, “Only one life, ‘twill soon be past. Only what’s done for Christ will last.”
Those who boast in their plans and make their future out of their own wisdom apart from Christ will be found wanting, and sooner than they expected. Do not boast in such evil ways. Have you found yourself making all kinds of plans for your future in arrogance apart from God? You have right now to turn those over to the Lord in humility. Right now you are called to turn from such evil boasting.
There is also comfort here for the poor believer. If you live under the boot of evil arrogant men who make all kinds of plans for the world to enact their schemes for new world order, taking from others, oppressing others, and controlling the population, then know that they boast in their arrogance and they know not when their soul will be required of them. You will soon be delivered. They do not control the future, let alone know it. Christ Jesus is the only Lawgiver and Judge able to save and destroy. And save and destroy He will. Jesus is Lord of time, not man. Not you. Not me. Not powerful elites.
What you ought to say, “If the Lord wills…”
So if we don’t know the future, if our lives are short, and yet we are to make plans, how are we to do so? James tells us, and in telling us how, he tells us that we are to plan, but to do so in the right way. Verse 15, “Instead you ought to say, ‘If the Lord wills, we will live and do this or that.’” So instead of boasting in arrogance we are to be diligent in submission to the Lord, and submit our plans to His will. This is an application of the Lord’s prayer: “Thy will be done in earth as it is in heaven.” This means we are submitted to God in working hard, but are willing for the Lord to change our plans. It means that our desire is to do God’s will, not ours, should our plans not turn out to be God’s will. This means that we make plans and undertake actions in prayer. How often do we plan and do things without prayer? May it not be so.
It’s become part of our Christian culture to say things like, “See you tomorrow, Lord willing.” We add “Lord willing,” to plans we make. This is a good thing and a good practice and it is not mere lip service or routine. We should genuinely mean this.
Words are powerful things and getting into the practice of saying, “If the Lord wills,” or “Lord willing,” can help to train us to believe this in practical things in our lives and can train us in humility and remind us daily that our lives are in God’s hands. So this is a good thing to say and mean in our everyday lives.
Yet, James does not intend us to be superstitious about these words, such that we need to be paranoid about making sure we say them. What is demanded is the attitude and demeanor, the faith and the trust in God. Saying them trains us and reminds us, but we need not be superstitious about saying this phrase after every sentence. After all, such superstition defeats the purpose of what is intended, for in superstition you think the uttering of a phrase can change and alter the future, or that they are a magic formula to make what you want happen. Let God be God and let us be His humble servants.
What amazing grace and what a divine wonder it is that God loves and cares for little vanishing mists such as us. Such that He came into this world, as Christ put on flesh to live, walk, and speak among us, among such vanishing mists. Because though our time is short, it is meaningful and real, and the Lord of time stepped into this earth to secure His people from death and to give ultimate meaning to all we do. He gave up His life and died in the strength of His days and then did what no other could do in defeating the devil and rising from the dead, that we might rise again after our short lives, to live forever with Him in unending joy.
We shall not boast in ourselves, but we may boast in Christ and in His cross, which is victory and salvation. We boast in Him and in His resurrection. Our lives are short, but eternity is long. And Christ lived a short while on earth, to redeem His people forever. Do you know Him? Trust Him? Submit to Him? Today is the day.
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