Focal Passage: James 4:13-17; 5:7-11
Time is the only “commodity” that once you spend it you can never get it back. I have seen people accumulate and lose wealth and then do it again, all in one lifetime.
I have observed people secure and then lose a job in a short period of time. But I’ve never seen anyone create time. Only God can create time (Genesis 1:1). What we do with our time says a great deal about our priorities. Faith in God glorifies God and prioritizes God’s will and purposes.
My plans or God’s plan?, James 4:13-17. Apparently, in the church James pastored, there were some who were making plans without consulting God.
They were traveling to a neighboring city, spending a significant period of time there, and seeking financial gain through business.
Pastor James took issue with their strategic planning. Why? Because they were doing their planning without prioritizing God. Such planning (was) is dangerous. It’s a waste of time.
James warned God’s people of forgetting how fragile life is — “like a vapor that appears for a little while, then vanishes” (v. 14) — and that if they left God out of their planning those plans would not glorify God. James’ concern was not 1) the planning, 2) the traveling, 3) or even the business adventures. God has called us to work, earn, save, and give. What James took issue with was that God was absent.
Rather than the arrogance of a man-centered attitude, James reminded them of the need to have a God-centered attitude — “If the Lord wills, we will live and do this or that” (v. 15). Man-centered planning and living is arrogant. It is evil. It is sinful. James gives this axiom. If a believer knows to do good — planning with God at the center of those plans – and does not plan or live in such a way, then it is sin.
Waiting patiently, James 5:7-9. After reprimanding some who were putting their trust in riches (vv. 1-6), James laid out in clear terms what it means to live life in anticipation of the Lord’s return with the right priorities. Like a farmer, the believer is to patiently wait for the reaping of a spiritual harvest. Patient waiting requires godly strength that doesn’t complain.
Like the farmer whose priorities are planning, sowing, cultivating, and reaping in due season so we, too, are to display our priorities in how we live as we wait for the Lord’s return.
Examples of priorities and patience. But to whom do we look to as examples of this kind of prioritized, patient living? Answer: James points to the Old Testament prophets and to Job.
He notes in verse 10, take “the prophets who spoke in the Lord’s name as an example of suffering and patience.” We view the prophets as heroic in their faith, “we count as blessed those who have endured” (v. 11).
Though persecuted, the prophets were steadfast and faithful because their priority of glorifying God.
And what about Job? He lost it all in a tragic series of God-permitted events. Yet, Job remained faithful. James notes Job’s endurance, “You have heard of Job’s endurance and have seen the outcome that the Lord brought about – the Lord is compassionate and merciful” (v. 11). The priorities of the prophets and of Job were God-centered, priorities expressed in patient endurance. B&R