James 4:13-17
Now listen, you who say, “Today or tomorrow we will go to this or that city, spend a year there, carry on business and make money.” Why, you do not even know what will happen tomorrow. What is your life? You are a mist that appears for a little while and then vanishes. Instead, you ought to say, “If it is the Lord’s will, we will live and do this or that.” As it is, you boast and brag. All such boasting is evil. Anyone, then, who knows the good he ought to do and doesn’t do it, sins.
Happy New Year to all of you!
How did you feel when you heard our text for this morning? Were you encouraged about the new year? What is James saying? It sounds like making business plans is foolish. Is it also foolish to make New Year’s resolutions? If our lives are nothing more than a mist….are they without value? How should we understand these words this morning? Let’s dig into this text together…
13 Now listen, you who say, “Today or tomorrow we will go to this or that city, spend a year there, carry on business and make money.”
What’s happening here?
- Today or tomorrow we will go to a certain town.
- We will stay there for a set amount of time (a year)
- We will engage in business
- We will make a profit
If we were going to engage in any kind of business this would be a MINIMUM kind of plan that must be in place in order for us to succeed. So what’s missing? What’s wrong?
First, what is missing is a proper view of our life.
14 Why, you do not even know what will happen tomorrow. What is your life? You are a mist that appears for a little while and then vanishes.
- Planning ahead is normal. But don’t forget, your life IS LIKE A MIST! (What do you feel when you hear this word? Loneliness, worthlessness?)
- James is not here speaking about the content of our lives, but is referring to the length of our lives.
- From the day we are born until the day we die, we are not in control. We didn’t decide when we would be born and we don’t decide when we will die. James is saying YOU ARE NOT IN CONTROL OF YOUR OWN DESTINY.
- It’s true that we can take our own lives. But this never actually represents control, but instead a recognition that we are totally unable to change ourselves. It is a sign of hopelessness.
I am aging just like the rest of you. I see this in my body and health more than anything else. I hurt, I don’t move as easily. I can’t see without my glasses. I am coming to see that my life is on the declining slope! It is because our lives are so short and unpredictable while on earth that we must be careful to have a proper understanding of the content and value of our lives.
In Psalm 90, verses 9,10,12, and 17 we have the following:
All our days pass away under your wrath; we finish our years with a moan. The length of our days is seventy years– or eighty, if we have the strength; yet their span is but trouble and sorrow, for they quickly pass, and we fly away. Teach us to number our days aright, that we may gain a heart of wisdom. May the favor of the Lord our God rest upon us; establish the work of our hands for us– yes, establish the work of our hands.
When we truly understand that our lives here are temporal, short, like a mist, we will be able to accurately count our days and make wise decisions. Knowing that our lives are like a mist will change our lifestyle, our decisions, and our priorities.
Secondly, what is missing is a correct view of God.
15 Instead, you ought to say, “If it is the Lord’s will, we will live and do this or that.”
- If the Lord wills, we will live.
Here we recognize that God is in fact the one who gave us life and sustains that life. He is the one who knows us better than anyone, who wishes to give us all good things. He is the one who controls our birthing and dying. He decides where and when we are born and how long we will live on this earth. He controls the length of our lives.
- If the Lord wills, we will do this or that.
Here we recognize that even the things we do and accomplish are in God’s hands. Of course we are free to do many things that are wrong and hurtful. We are free to sin and we cannot claim that these are God’s plans. But if we accomplish anything of value or good it is to the extent that God has allowed it and gifted us to do it. Again, we look to God for his help. He controls all of our accomplishments in life.
What difference does this make?
It means that we plan boldly…but with humility. We place our lives and our plans in God’s hands!
16 As it is, you boast and brag. All such boasting is evil.
Here we see that to not understand these things is arrogance and pride. These are what the Bible calls sin. To believe that we are here because of our own work and effort, that we can control our lives…..this is what James calls arrogance. And so James is today telling us to humble ourselves before God.
A similar passage from Proverbs 3:5-6:
Trust in the LORD with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding; in all your ways acknowledge him, and he will make your paths straight.
James 4:17
17 Anyone, then, who knows the good he ought to do and doesn’t do it, sins.
James concludes with the statement that to understand these things and not act on them is sin. It is our old sin of pride and “get by on my own.”
This week, let’s pause to consider:
- Our lives are like a mist (and therefore precious!)
- Humbly submit our lives to Him
- Humbly submit our plans and dreams and New Year’s Resolutions to Him.
This is a teaching about the necessary balance in our lives that is required when “planning”. But the same could be understood in our lives of “prayer”.
Pray for everything, ask for whatever you want, don’t be afraid of asking inappropriately!
But, remember Jesus’ prayer in Gethsemane…. “Father, this is what I want….. but, in the end, it’s not my will but YOUR will that I desire.”
(the above is a summary of the message shared during our worship on January 4, 2026.)
Japanese Congregational Church 