The letter of James - 4:13-17

When we connect the thought that James has been writing from chapter 3 up to now, 4:12, we see a common thread.

Their church was greatly troubled by community divisiveness. The cause of this divisiveness was selfish, envious attitudes, which were manifested through sinful, critical speech.

As we’ll see, cary the next thought James wants to address; the arrogant attitude of people who think and act without reference to God.

James will grant his readers a response in 5:7-11 that Christians should have after rebuking this arrogant selfishness behavior. But that’s weeks away.

Let’s jump into todays passage.

James 4:13–17 ESV

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.

(ESV)

(ESV)

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.

Now, most scholars seem to believe that James is focusing in on the rich again. Under deeper inspection, his hypothetical story does sound as if he is directing this toward the rich.

One would need to have wealth to travel to a certain town and stay there a year. Also, their reason for moving to a different town is to make a profit. So it seems that James is directing this toward the rich.

But don’t excuse yourself too quickly. Remember, any time the Bible calls out the rich, point the finger at yourself. If you live in the United States, you fall in the category of the rich.

So, ether way, we all fit this scenario.

What is James main complaint against his hypothetical businessmen?

It’s not that they are rich.

It’s not that they are planning.

It’s not that they are looking to make a profit.

The problem is attitude. Self-accomplishment and personal success are the underlining motivation. They are boasting in arrogance; not allowing God to direct their lives.

Remember in chapter 1 where James calls out believers who boast in their own worldly accomplishments.

James 1:10–11 NLT

10 And those who are rich should boast that God has humbled them. They will fade away like a little flower in the field. 11 The hot sun rises and the grass withers; the little flower droops and falls, and its beauty fades away. In the same way, the rich will fade away with all of their achievements.

(NLT)

(NLT)

10 And those who are rich should boast that God has humbled them. They will fade away like a little flower in the field. 11 The hot sun rises and the grass withers; the little flower droops and falls, and its beauty fades away. In the same way, the rich will fade away with all of their achievements.

He’s returning to this thought and calling them to trust in the Lord.

Again, the problem isn’t that they are making plans. Plans are good. We need to make preparations for the future.

The problem James is pointing out is that in planning we tend to forget about God and his plan. As if we believe we have the ability to determine the course of future events outside of God.

This presumption comes from a wrong understanding of ourselves in relation to God. We jeopardize our humility before God when we don’t see the significance of our neighbors, and elevate the significance of ourselves.

Sometimes we even disguise this boastfulness so well, we start to believe that what we’re doing is for God when it’s really all about us.

James soon puts us in our place. You want to go to such and such town, spend a year there and make a profit, well…

James 4:14 ESV

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.

(ESV)

(ESV)

14 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.

James picks this though from Proverbs.

Proverbs 27:1 NLT

1 Don’t brag about tomorrow, since you don’t know what the day will bring.

(NLT)

(NLT)

1 Don’t brag about tomorrow, since you don’t know what the day will bring.

Life is fleeting. We’re here on minute and gone the next.

This reminds me of the book of Ecclesiastes.

Ecclesiastes was written by Solomon, one of King David’s sons. Solomon asked God for wisdom and he is said to be the wisest man that ever walked the earth.

Toward the end of his life, Solomon writes the book of Ecclesiastes. He uses one word all throughout this book that gets translated meaningless, or vanity. The Hebrew word Solomon uses is also translated as smoke, vapor, or mist.

I think that James if pulling from this though too. Not that life is meaningless but that it’s an enigma, it mysterious.

Like smoke or fog, you can see it but can’t grasp it. It’s here one moment, then it’s gone. It’s fleeting.

Next, James clues us in, not to just what we ought to say, rather how we should live.

James 4:15 ESV

15 Instead you ought to say, “If the Lord wills, we will live and do this or that.”

(ESV)

(ESV)

15 Instead you ought to say, “If the Lord wills, we will live and do this or that.”

England story

James is calling his readers to realize that we do not control the duration and direction of our lives. We must have an attitude in which there is a God who sovereignly directs the course of human affairs.

James 4:16–17 ESV

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.

(ESV)

(ESV)

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.

What is the right thing to do?

In context, to trust that God will direct our lives (and church) in the direction that he has for us. Not to take it upon ourselves to do what we think is best. But, wholly trust in him alone.

Not allowing our desires and passions to displace God’s plans and desires for us.

“For everything in the world—the cravings of sinful man, the lust of his eyes and the boasting of what he has and does—comes not from the Father but from the world.” It is this “pride of life,” this arrogant sense of self-sufficiency so characteristic of the world, that James condemns in this passage. All such boasting is evil, James concludes.”

Moo, Douglas J. The Letter of James. The Pillar New Testament Commentary. Grand Rapids, MI; Leicester, England: Eerdmans; Apollos, 2000.