"Therefore to him that knoweth to do good, and doeth it not, to him it is sin."
James 4:17
Part 1
Humans do love to pride themselves on their ability to thrive without anyone else’s help. This particular attitude shows up as we speak in phrases such as,
“That person is a self-made man/woman.”
“That individual is certainly a “man/woman to watch.”
“That is a prosperous person,” a “rising star,” a “whiz kid,” and so on.[1]
We like to think of ourselves as competent, able, confident, self-sufficient, self-reliant, self-taught, self-sustaining, handmade, homemade, and stand-alone! Sadly, at their heart, these concepts are tending to point away from God and aim people to be independent spirits.
James addresses this spirit in his book, chapter 4, verses 13-17. He starts with those independent in spirit and their plans, minus God.
“Go to now, ye that say, Today or tomorrow we will go into such a city, and continue there a year, and buy and sell, and get gain” (James 4:13).
“This is what I’m going to do!”
This person is “counting their chickens before they hatch.” They have given no authority to God in their lives or plans. This is independence from God. The concept of whatever these plans are is wrong from the start.
James reminds his readers of how unpredictable and short a life really is.
“Whereas ye know not what shall be on the morrow. For what is your life? It is even a vapor, that appeareth for a little time, and then vanisheth away” (James 4:14).
Life is here and gone in a moment. A person’s life is the hyphen between the BORN and DIED dates on their tombstone.[2] And that is how quickly life is over.
James has a better way to look at our lives, plans, hopes, dreams, and goals.
“For that ye ought to say, If the Lord will, we shall live, and do this, or that” (James 4:15).
“If the Lord is willing, here is where I plan to go and what I plan to do.” This is dependence upon God. He is vital to the decision. It seeks His will and calls on His blessing before venturing off to do what we want and go where we want.
For all those humans, even believers, who leave God out of their plans and think they can handle life on their own,
“But now ye rejoice in your boastings: all such rejoicing is evil” (James 4:16).
When you live life independently of God, all of your thoughts of self-success and autonomous significance are “evil.”
Since we are broken by Adam’s Fall, how can we keep from “forgetting” to do good every day? Come back tomorrow, and we will think more about this.
Quote: “And it came to pass, after the year was expired, at the time when kings go forth to battle, that David sent Joab, and his servants with him, and all Israel; and they destroyed the children of Ammon and besieged Rabbah. But David tarried still at Jerusalem” (2 Samuel 11:1). This one small “omission,” this tiny “neglect” on David’s part, opened him up to a whole parade of sins. This one exception he allowed, changed his life from then on.
[1] Some of these ideas were gleaned from Roget’s 21st Century Thesaurus, Third Edition Copyright © 2013 by the Philip Lief Group. Downloaded: Monday, October 12, 2020. From: https://www.thesaurus.com/browse/self-made man.
[2] From Dr. Les Ollila.