AM Bible Study Group; August 15, 2012
James 4:13-17
Theme: We must be consistent in our walk by submitting all our plans to the sovereign God.
(Unless otherwise noted, all Scripture references are taken from The Holy Bible, New King James Version; copyright 1982, Thomas Nelson, Inc.)
The focus of this morning’s passage touches on the ‘plans’ we make in life. In James’ day, merchants and tradesmen would gather the goods and products of one city and take them to some other distant city; and would remain there for some time until they had sold those goods at a profit. Then, using their profits, they’d buy up some other goods and products from that city, and take them to yet another city to sell. This process was repeated, perhaps over a considerable number of years, until the merchant or tradesman became rich enough to return to his home and live prosperously.
James was singling out such people as an example of something that we all deal with in everyday life-planning for the future. He begins this text by the attention-getting phrase, “Come now . . .”, or “Now listen . . .”, or as it is in the old King James Version, “Go to now . . .” He says this to cause his readers to stop and examine themselves.
This passage of Scripture deals with a sinful attitude that many—including professing believers—have. It’s the attitude that ‘spiritual matters’ are fine in a ‘spiritual context’; but ‘business is business’, and business not the place to bring spiritual concerns into consideration. It’s the attitude that illegitimately divides life between the “sacred” and the “secular”; and that shuts God out of some of the most fundamental areas of practical, every-day life. James, as a good pastor, wants his readers to see how wrong it is to ever come-up with, develop, and attempt to carry out plans as if God was not there. He wants them to see that this—in effect—is to say, “I am the master of my own fate!” He calls them to humbly submit to God’s sovereignty in all their plans, and to include a consideration of Him in them.
I. IT ISN’T WRONG, IN AND OF ITSELF, TO MAKE PLANS (v. 13).
A. James begins by writing, “Come now, you who say, “Today or tomorrow we will go to such and such a city, spend a year there, buy and sell, and make a profit” (v. 13). We shouldn’t misunderstand his intention—as if he was saying that ‘planning’ was the problem. The Bible calls us to the wisdom of planning ahead. Proverbs 6:6-8 says, “Go to the ant, you sluggard! Consider her ways and be wise, which, having no captain, overseer or ruler, provides her supplies in the summer, and gathers her food in the harvest.” Scripture lifts up Joseph to us as an excellent example of one who exercised good stewardship by planing wisely (see Genesis 41:33-37). There’s nothing presumptuous about making prudent plans. In fact, it’s a mark of godly wisdom to do so! The stories the Scripture tells us of the apostle Paul are filled with how he made and operated on ‘forward- planning’ (see Acts 18:21; 1 Corinthians 4:19, 16:7; Philippians 2:19, 24).
B. Rather, the problem comes from trying to make our plans without giving the sovereign God first consideration. In practice, we do this when we don’t begin our plans with prayer, or when we’re too confident in the plan itself, or when we’re too confident in our own abilities to ‘work the plan.’ To ‘plan’ in this way is foolish presumption! That’s why James uses a strong word to introduce the matter—one that is translated “Come now . . .!”
II. THREE REALITIES SHOULD HUMBLE US IN OUR PLANS (vv. 14-15).
A. There’s an uncertainty of the future. James writes, “. . . whereas you do not know what will happen tomorrow” (v. 14a). We all plan to show up for the things we are responsible for; but we don’t really know whether we will be there or not. We all plan to celebrate Christmas this year; or to be back in church again next Sunday. But none of us really knows for certain that we will. We don’t know what tomorrow will bring. This is true of our health, or our tasks, or our possessions. We make plans about these things; and it’s wise that we do so. But we must not be presumptuous about them. We must not boast arrogantly as if we can see into or dictate the future; because we can’t. Only God can do that.
B. There’s also the frailty of our lives. James writes, “For what is your life? It is even a vapor that appears for a little time and then vanishes away” (14b). Psalm 39:4-6 says, “Lord, make me to know my end, and what is the measure of my days, that I may know how frail I am. Indeed, You have made my days as handbreadths, and my age is as nothing before You; certainly every man at his best state is but vapor. Surely every man walks about like a shadow; surely they busy themselves in vain; he heaps up riches, and does not know who will gather them.” Psalm 90:10 says, “The days of our lives are seventy years; and if by reason of strength they are eighty years, yet their boast is only labor and sorrow; for it is soon cut off, and we fly away.” To make long-term plans on the presumption of the durability of our lives is as unwise as hanging our hopes upon a puff of smoke.
C. Finally, there’s the supremacy of the will of God. As James says, “Instead you ought to say, ‘If the Lord wills, we shall live and do this or that'” (v. 15). James doesn’t simply mean that we may do these things if the Lord wills. Rather, he means that, only if the Lord wills, we will even be allowed to live to do anything! This is the greatest factor of all in humbling our plans; because our life, our health, our possessions, even our tomorrows, are all in the hand of God. And His will, not ours, is supreme. As someone once said, “Man proposes; but God disposes.”
III. THESE THREE REALITIES DEMAND THAT WE MAKE ALL OUR PLANS WITH HUMBLE SUBMISSION TO GOD (vv. 16-17).
A. Because of these three realities, we must live constantly and consciously in a state of dependency upon God, and to make all our plan with humble trust in Him. Putting the matter negatively, to make such plans in a ‘secular’ frame of mind is sin! James says, “But now you boast in your arrogance. All such boasting is evil. Therefore, to him who knows to do good and does not do it, to him it is sin” (vv. 16-17). Those three realities— the uncertainty of the future, the frailty of our own lives, and the sovereignty of God— should always keep us humble in our planning; so we do not “arrogantly boast” against God, nor engage in the sin of keeping God out of the picture.
B. How should we bring these three realities into practice in our planning?
(1) We should always submit our plans to the word of God. The very first thing we should do is to hold-up our intentions to God’s revealed will in the Scriptures and ask, “Is what I am intending to do within the framework of God’s expressed will?” We should seek godly counsel from those who know the word of God well, and can advise us in what God has already said about the matter. The guiding principle should not be what we want to do, but rather what God would want us to do.
(2) We should invite God’s involvement in the matter from the very start. Psalm 127:1 says, “Unless the Lord builds the house, they labor in vain who build it; unless the Lord guards the city, the watchman stays awake in vain.” Proverbs 3:5- 6 says, “Trust in the Lord with all your heart, and lean not on your own understanding; in all your ways acknowledge Him, and He shall direct your paths.”
(3) We should learn to seek God’s interests first in all our plans. So often, we ask God to endorse our plans; when what God wants is for us to get behind His! In Matthew 6:33, Jesus taught us, “But seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness, and all these things shall be added to you.” When we make our plans, we need to ask, “How, in the final analysis, will what I am seeking to do advance the kingdom of Jesus Christ?” If our final goal is to be able to live and provide for ourselves in such a way that we are set free to serve the kingdom of Jesus Christ, that’s in keeping with His kingdom-purposes. But if our goal is to be able to hold on to riches for their own sake, and to be able to live in a self- indulgent manner, that is a plan that serves the wrong ‘kingdom’—and God will not bless it.
(4) Finally, we need to humbly bow to His providence. Is our plan clearly within the revealed will of God? Have we sincerely invited His involvement in the matter? Have we made the advancement of His kingdom the great, over-arching priority in our plans? Then we should work hard, act wisely, and pray constantly; but always leave the matter to His sovereign will—being content with the outcome He chooses.