August 21, 2025

James 4:13-17  (HCSB)
Our Will and His Will
13 Come now, you who say, “Today or tomorrow we will travel to such and such a city and spend a year there and do business and make a profit.” 14 You don’t even know what tomorrow will bring—what your life will be! For you are like smoke that appears for a little while, then vanishes. 15 Instead, you should say, “If the Lord wills, we will live and do this or that.” 16 But as it is, you boast in your arrogance. All such boasting is evil. 17 So it is a sin for the person who knows to do what is good and doesn’t do it.

Jonathan Finch
Let’s be real —we all make plans like we’re guaranteed tomorrow. We say, “Next year I’m gonna...” or “In a few months I’ll finally...” James says: Slow down. You don’t even know what’s coming tomorrow. I think of my brother Andy often, who passed away at 22, and I always wonder who he would be today... What he would tell me. The Bible tells us in Colossians that we were all created by God and for God. I really believe Andy would tell me to live my life in complete pursuit of trying to honor God and love people. Don’t worry so much about all the stresses that come with life, they are just distractions from the Lord’s desires for you. When thinking about such things it’s not that planning is wrong —it’s that presuming is. That heart posture that says, ‘I’m in control. I’ve got time. I’ll do what I want, when I want,’ is pride disguised as confidence. James reminds us of something we’d rather not think about: Life is short. Like a mist. Here, then gone.  What do we do with that? Do we live in fear? No, we live in purpose. With urgency. With humility. With surrender. Instead of saying, “I will...” James tells us to say, “If it’s the Lord’s will...” That’s not just about words, it’s about mindset. It’s about holding our plans loosely and God’s purpose tightly. Then James finishes with this punch: “If anyone knows the good they ought to do and doesn’t do it, it’s sin.” In other words, if you know what’s right, do it now. Don’t wait. Don’t delay obedience. Don’t assume you’ll have a better time, a better mood, or a better season later. You don’t have forever. But you do have right now.
Prayer: God, remind me that life is short and You are in control. Help me not to waste time chasing things that don’t matter. Show me the good You’ve called me to do today and give me the courage to do it. I don’t want to live on autopilot. I want to live on purpose. Amen.