Bible Studies
DANGER OF PLANNING WITHOUT GOD
James 4:13-16
James draws the picture of a religious man who plans his business (or life) without God. Many of the recipients of the Epistle of James were Jews who were also great traders and business people. They sought and move into cities to seize business and trading opportunities. Some of them were so immersed in their business pursuits that they forget God. Their language reveals that God is not in their thoughts. “Today or tomorrow, we will go into such a city, and continue there a year, and buy and sell, and get gain” (James4:13). This is a practical atheism! Living and planning as if God did not exist, as if only one day in the week we remember God but during the week all our activities are carried out without any reference to God and without any remembrance of Him.
How can we plan our future when we do not know “what shall be on the morrow?” “Boast not of self of tomorrow, for thou knowest not what a day may bring forth”(Proverbs 27:1). The true Christian commits himself, to his future and all his plans into the hand of God, desiring only God’s purpose and will to be done and fulfilled. The future is not in the hands of men and no man can boast or arrogantly claim that he has power to decide it.
1. PLANNING WITHOUT GOD
James 4:13; Isaiah 14:13-14; Genesis 11:3-5,8; Luke 12:16-21; 2Chronicles 18:25-27; Psalm 52:7; Ecclesiastes 8:6-7.
James was concerned about so-called Christians who were planning their lives and business affairs without God. He begins with a phrase of surprise –“ Go to now” which is used only one other time in the New Testament in James 5:1. Stop! Think! Go to …. And learn! Now! There was nothing wrong with planning; their error was planning without God
Their statement of planning contains five elements: (1) They choose their own time – “today or tomorrow”, (2) they choose the location for the business – “such a city”, (3) they choose the duration, “continue there a year”, (4) they choose the enterprise – “buy and sell”, (5) they choose a goal or objective – “get gain” or make profit. Their planning process was alright, but their foolishness is that they left God out of their plans. Avoid the foolishness of planning without God: Commence with prayer, construct with the plan, chose the place, chart the progress, calculate the profit, and conclude with prayer.
2 THE PRESUMPTION OF THE GODLESS
James 4:14, 16; Job 8:9; 14:1-2; 1Kings 20:10-11,30: Psalms 103:15-16; 39:4-5; Isaiah 47:7-10; Proverbs 27:1.
The godless are often thoughtless and in their thoughtlessness they presume about the future. They presume about the uncertainties and brevity of life. The complexities of life do not allow anyone to act or speak presumptuously about “today or tomorrow”, about going to “such a city” with absolute assurance, about “continue there a year” with infallible precision, about “buying and selling and getting gain” with perfect certainty.
Man is ignorance of the future and uncertain as to what time will bring. The man who plans without God presumes much about the brevity of life. “For what is your life? It is even a vapour, that appeareth for a little time, and then vanisheth away” (James 4:14). Some expressed the brevity of life in poetry thus:
When I was a child, I laughed and wept, and time crept.
When as a youth I dreamed and talked, time walked,
When older still I grew, time flew,
Soon I shall find in passing on, time gone.
Every man is dependent on God for the next breath. To plan without God, To boast of tomorrow and be certain of uncertainties is pride and sinful, evil and ignorance.
3. THE PRIORITY OF THE GODLY.
James 4:15; Acts 18:21; Romans 1:10; 15:32; 1Corinthians 4:19; 16:7 Psalm 37:3-5.
James counsels as well as commanded us, “For that ye ought to say, if the will, we shall live, and do this or that”(James 4:15). Our lives and accomplishments depend entirely on God. “If the Lord will, we shall live”, the preservation of our lives till the next day, year or decade depend on God. Planning on what to do and how to spend our life that God has graciously given must be done with God’s will in focus. “If the Lord will, we shall do this or that”. Every plan or action must be brought to light of God’s plan or purpose for our life or existence on earth.
Paul the Apostle demonstrated this submission to the will of God in all his planning and activities. He could only be in a place or do something “if God will” or if the Lord permit”. In the early days of the church, the believers used to write at the bottom of their letters D.V. (Latin: Doe volente) meaning ‘God being willing’ or if God wills’. True believers do not have a mere reference to the will of God., they have real preference for will of God. We too must so submit to the will of God that all the details of our lives, business plans, personal ambition, educational goals, marriage, and family desires will be subjected to God’s final and ultimate will.
Akinbowale Isaac Adewumi
www.devinehome.blogspot.com
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