Faith that Works Day 9
James 4:13–5:6
Plan Loosely and Trust Tightly
¹³ 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.
¹ Come now, you rich, weep and howl for the miseries that are coming upon you. ² Your riches have rotted and your garments are moth-eaten. ³ Your gold and silver have corroded, and their corrosion will be evidence against you and will eat your flesh like fire. You have laid up treasure in the last days. ⁴ Behold, the wages of the laborers who mowed your fields, which you kept back by fraud, are crying out against you, and the cries of the harvesters have reached the ears of the Lord of hosts. ⁵ You have lived on the earth in luxury and in self-indulgence. You have fattened your hearts in a day of slaughter. ⁶ You have condemned and murdered the righteous person. He does not resist you.
What did you think, feel, or see as you read?
James sets up a picture of a merchant who is making plans. Douglas Moo points out the presumptions of the merchant: He is in control of time—“Today or tomorrow I will…”; he is in control of location—“to such and such a town”; he is in control of duration—“for a year”; he is in control of success—“trade and make a profit!” The merchant has a plan and knows how it will work out! He is in complete control.
What is the issue here? Arrogance! The merchant has no thought of God in any of his plans. He is completely confident in his ability not only to plan but to enact the plan—and is even confident in the success of the plan.
Furthermore, James is addressing our unholy preoccupation with things of the world. We are consumed by what we can accomplish and achieve, so much so that we are tempted to lie, cheat, and steal to acquire them.
I leave you with this: When wealth becomes what we trust, it quietly becomes what we serve. Serving wealth leads to selfishness, not love!
Where are you arrogantly living without God? What are you trusting in to satisfy your life?
