"Go to now, ye that say, To day or to morrow we will go into such a city, and continue there a year, and buy and sell, and get gain: Whereas ye know not what shall be on the morrow. For what is your life? It is even a vapour, that appeareth for a little time, and then vanisheth away."
James 4:13-14
“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:”
Come now—Pay attention—Listen up! “Everyone that says….”
Here’s my plan, here’s what I will do:
When: today or tomorrow.
Where: in this city.
How long: I’ll stay there a year.
What: I’ll buy, and I’ll sell, and I’ll make money!
The fallacy in the plan: there is no thought of God, or His will, or His plans, nor of the eternal, only the temporal. These plans are very shortsighted. This person has forgotten that “Man proposes, but God disposes.” [1]
“Whereas ye know not what shall be on the morrow.”
Here’s the truth, not one of us can tell the future. Only God knows the end from the beginning, He knows what is to come. To leave God out of the picture and think this way is sinful (v. 16).
“For what is your life?”
This is the crux of the issue. Those who think this sinful way do not understand what their life is. Who has given us this life? All life is from God, the giver and sustainer. He is the One who is the source of all life, and He can recall any life as He wills.
In Luke 12:16-21 is the brief story of the farmer who thought this way. He believed he was in control of his life. But God recalled the man’s life before he could finish doing what his godless plans called for. Without God in our lives directing us, we are nobody, and our methods ineffective.
“It is even a vapor, that appeareth for a little time, and then vanisheth away.”
The water vapor that comes off of the teapot lasts only a moment, and it’s gone. That’s how long life on earth continues from God’s perspective.
Our lives, at best, are brief. Even if you lived to be 100 or older, in the light of the history of the world, that’s not very long. In the light of eternity, it’s hardly a blip on the radar screen.
We need to be living this year with God in mind and eternity in view.
[1] See the Cambridge Bible.