At present our thoughts inevitably turn to the year ahead. No doubt you have plans, hopes, ambitions, goals. Many of you will be laying plans, consciously or unconsciously, for 1998. Holidays, entertainments, meetings, visits, etc. Quite right too. God is a God of order and he wants us to be orderly too and to lay plans.
However, before plunging in it is worth putting your thinking cap on for five minutes. Time spent sharpening the axe before swinging it is never time wasted. Imagine a blank 1998 Desk Diary before you. How are you going to start filling it in? Or think of it as a big empty pot. What ingredients will you use to fill it?
Some obvious ingredients
In James 4:13 an imaginary person speaks. He sounds like a businessman. Many Greek commercial centres had sprung up in the Mediterranean area in James's day: It was as common for people to travel to new locations to open up fresh business opportunities as it is today. Things just happen a little faster these days. James's man sounds slightly vague but this is only a general example. A businessman would be more definite. 'On January 31 we will go to London. We will open a shop in Tottenham Court Road selling computer equipment. In the first year our profit will exceed £10,000!'. Nothing wrong with that as far as it goes.
All the obvious ingredients are there:
1. The which
Today or tomorrow. On a specific date I will .... That is okay. We must plan which thing we will or will not do.
2. The where
We will go to this or that city. We need to plan with this in mind. When will you be where?
3. The when
Spend a year there. The time factor is a vital ingredient. There are 24 hours in a day, 7 days in a week. We must recognise this obvious but stubborn fact and plan accordingly.
4. The what
Carry on business. Next you must choose just what to do at that particular time in that particular place.
5. The why
And make money. An obvious but sometimes forgotten element. We need to look at all we do with this question in mind, 'Why?'. There is no point in simply filling up the time-table. What is your aim in life? Every activity you undertake must be subservient to this overall aim.
The vital missing ingredients
The above is fine as far as it goes but there is a vital element missing. It is like trying to make tea without the tea leaves or having all the trimmings but no turkey. That is the problem with the person James describes - not what they include but what they omit. They seem so thorough, so careful, so organised, but no. What is missing?
1. Do not forget the most obvious thing about yourself
Despite the apparent thoroughness such planning is rather superficial. It misses a major factor of life: its brevity and unpredictability. Why, you do not even know what will happen tomorrow This is not a verse condemning insurance policies but a reminder of our weakness and ignorance. None of us know if 1998 will be our last year. We do not know if we will die or if the Lord will return. Do not boast about tomorrow for you do not know what a day may bring forth says Proverbs 27:1. Our lives hang on a heartbeat yet we confidently talk about 'Next year ....'. John Blanchard writes, 'We do have all the time in the world, but how much time does the world have?'
James continues What is your life? You are a mist that appears ... and then vanishes. Repeatedly Scripture reminds us of this. Many illustrations are used. Life is a shadow, a breath, a puff of smoke, a weaver's shuttle, a swift runner, withering grass. Remember the parable of the Rich Fool. Life will not go on forever yet most live as though it will.
2. Do not forget the most obvious thing about God
James writes to Christians. They had not stopped believing in God but they were living as though they had. There is such a thing as practical atheism. They had forgotten God is sovereign. He controls and wills all that happens. The future is not in my hands or yours but in God's. What happens is determined ultimately by his plans not ours. This is not an argument for not planning ahead but a call to remember God when we make our plans. 'Man proposes but God disposes'. We dare not forget to add, If the Lord will. Remember Paul typically in Acts 18:21 1 will come back if it is God's will. He says similar things in his letters. Advertisements for meetings in magazines such as this once all carried the letters DV. It means Deo Volente, God willing. Its demise, we trust, is not a sign of arrogance but a realisation that a right attitude is not a matter of adding DV to everything but of living in the light of God's power. We dare not leave him out of the picture.
3. Realise the root of your problem if you have forgotten these things
It comes out in 4:16 where James condemns his readers' boasting and bragging. That is what failing to take God into account is. That is the problem. We need to humble ourselves before Almighty God and recognise his sovereignty. This is something James is most eager to say throughout his letter. The problem with the person imagined is not so much his desire to make money but his failure to leave room for God. It may sound innocent but it is not. It is arrogance. So many imagine they have a right to life; not just businessmen, all sorts. To fail to acknowledge God at every point is a great sin.
4:17 is probably a contemporary saying. It applies here and, more widely, to all sins of omission. The Judgment will not only be about what we have done but about what we have not done. You know the good you ought to do. If you do not do it, it is sin.
