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James 4:13–14
“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’—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.”
The sin of Adam and Eve consisted in their trying to take the Lord’s place as Judge and Lawgiver. By eating the forbidden fruit, our first parents implicitly said that they were not bound to God’s law and that He had no right to judge what is good and what is evil (Gen. 3:1–7). They attempted to cast off His authority, committing cosmic treason, as Dr. R.C. Sproul frequently said. Adam and Eve were the first to do this but not the last. James says that we do the same thing when we judge fellow Christians in matters on which God has left us free to make our own choices or when we revile other believers (James 4:11–12). God in His law condemns slandering other believers, and only He has the right to judge individuals in matters where He has left them free (see Lev. 19:16; Rom. 14). Let us strive not to usurp God’s place as Judge by our disobedience.
Slandering other believers and improperly judging them are not the only ways that we assume for ourselves prerogatives that belong to the Lord alone. We see that in today’s passage, as James begins to warn us against the error of presumption. James 4:13 addresses those 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.” In the first-century Roman Empire, commercial activity was rapidly expanding, and many residents of the empire, including many Jews, took advantage of this through various business enterprises. It was easy for merchants to pridefully proclaim what their revenues and profits would be, their plans for buying and selling in other cities, and so on. Not much has changed, for modern people make prideful predictions as well.
In any case, James warns readers that such boasting is presumptuous, and the reason is that we do not know the future. We are finite, with our lives but a mist that appears suddenly and disappears almost as quickly (v. 14). Only the Lord knows the future certainly, declaring the end from the beginning (Isa. 46:8–10). Only He can confidently announce what is coming tomorrow. When we boast of the future without any reference to the Lord and His sovereign will, we are therefore attempting to usurp His place.
James does not condemn business owners merely for having a profit motive. As we will discuss in our next study, he also does not forbid wise planning for the future. He simply wants us to remember our own limitations and that the days ahead are unknown to us.
Coram Deo Living before the face of God
One of the best ways that we can cultivate humility before God and others in our hearts and lives is to remember our limitations and the shortness of our lives. We are but creatures, and it is vital that we remember that. There are so many things that we cannot do and cannot know, and this should lead us not to presume too much about tomorrow.
For further study
- Psalm 39:4–6
- Proverbs 27:1
- Isaiah 40:6–8
- Luke 12:13–21
The bible in a year
- Deuteronomy 17–19
- Mark 14:32–52