James said: "Come now, you who say, 'Today or tomorrow we will go to such and such a city, spend a year there, buy and sell, and make a profit'; whereas you do not know what will happen tomorrow. For wht is your life? It is even a vapor that appears for a little time and then vanished away. Instead you ought to say, 'If the Lord wills, we shall live and do this or that.' But now you boast in your arrogance. All such boasting is evil. Therefore, to him who knows to do good and does not do it, to him it is sin" (James 4:13 - 17, NKJV).
James began Chapter 4 talking about war with God, and ends it talking abut the will of God. But the two themes are related: when a believer is out of the will of God, he becomes a troublemaker and not a peacemaker.
Lot moved into Sodom and brought trouble to his family. David committed adultery and brought trouble to his family and his Kingdom. Jonah disobeyed God and almost sent a shipload of heathen sailors into a watery grave. In each case, there was a wrong attitude toward the will of God.
God has a plan for each of our lives. He is a God of wisdom and knows what ought to happen and when it should occur. And, as a God of love, He must desire the vey best of His children. Too many Christians look upon the will of God as bitter medicine they must take, instead of seeing it as the gracious evidence of the love of God.
A perplexed young person was not willing to give his life to the Lord because he was afraid that God would ask him to do something dangerous. His Pastor told him: "The dangerous life is not in the will of God. The safest place in the world is right where God wants you!" I cannot agree with the Pastor more.
David, the psalmist said: "The counsel of the Lord stands forever, the plans of His heart to all generation" (Psalm 33:11).
The will of God comes from the heart of God. His will is the expression of His love and so we need not be afraid to follow His will!
In this section of his Epistle (James 4:13 - 17) James pointed out three attitudes toward the will of God - ignoring God's will, disobeying God's will and obeying God's will. Of course, only the last attitude is the correct one, the only one that every Christian ought to cultivate.
Ignoring God's will (James 4:13, 14, 16)
James said: "Come now, you who say, 'Today or tomorow we will go to such and such a city, spend a year there, buy and sell, and make a profit'; whereas you do not know what will happen tomorrow. For what is your life? It is even a vapor that appears for a little time and then vanishes away. But now you boast in your arrogance. All such boasting is evil" (James 4:13, 14, 16).
I believe James was addressing some successful and wealthy business men in the local assembly. They might have discussed their business deals and boasted about their plans. There was no evidence that they sough the will of God or prayed about their decisions. They measured success in life by how many times they got their own way and accomplished what they had planned.
But James presented four arguments that revealed the foolishness of ignoring the will of God.
1. The complexity of life (James 4:13)
Think of all that is involved in life - today, tomorrow, buying, selling, getting gain, losing, going here, and going there. Life is made up of people and places, activities and goals, days and years; and each of us must make many crucial decisions day after day.
Apart from the will of God, life is a mystery. When you know Jesus Christ as your Savior, and seek to do His will then life starts to make sense.
2. The uncertainty of life (James 4:14)
This statement is based on what Solomon said: "Do not boast about tomorrow, for you do not know what a day may bring forth" (Prov. 27:1).
These businessmen were making plans for a whole year when they could not even see ahead into one day! See how confident they were - "We will go. We stay a year. We will buy and sell and make a profit."
Their attitude reminds us of the farmer in the parable of Jesus in Luke 12. The man had a bumper crop; his barns were too small; so he decided to build bigger barns and have greater security of the future. "And I wll say to my soul, "Soul, you have many goods laid up for many years; take your ease; eat, drink, and be merry" (Luke 12:19).
But God said to him: "Fools! This night your soul will be required of you" (Luke 12:20). Life is not uncertain to God, but it is uncertain to us. Only when we are in His will can we be confident of tomorrow, for we know that He is leading us.
3. The brevity of life (James 4:14)
This is one of the repeated themes of Scripture. To us, life seems long and we measure it in years; but in comprison to eternity, life is but a vapor. James borrowed that figure from the Book of Job where you had many pictures of the brevity of life.
"My days are swifter than a weaver's shutter, ..." (Job 7:6).
"As the cloud disappears and vanishes away, so he who goes down the grave does not come up" (Job 7:9).
"Now my days are swifter than a runner; ..." (Job 9:25).
We count our years at each birthday, but Psalm 90:12 says, "So teach us to number our days, ..." After all we live a day at a time, and those days rush by quickly the older we grow.
Since life is so brief, we must invest our lives in those things that are eternal - the things of God. We cannot afford to ignore the Bible, in which God gives precepts, principles, and promises that can guide us in every areas of life.
4. The frailty of man (James 4:16)
Man's boasting is evil because it only covers up man's weakness. Man cannot control future events. He has neither the wisdom to see the future nor the power to control the future. For him to boast is sin; it is making himself God.
Solomon said: "The lot is cast into the lap, but its very decision is from the Lord" (Prov. 16:33).
How foolish it is for people to ignore the will of God. It is like going through the dark jungles without a map, or over the stormy sea without a compass!
Disobeying God's will (James 4:17)
James said: "Therefore, to him who knows to do good and does not do it, to him it is sin" (James 4:17).
It is God's will for His children to do good. If we deliberately turning away from doing good, we are disobeying God's will.
Peter said: "For it would have been better for them not to have known the way of righteousness, than having known it, to turn from the holy commandment delivered to them" (2 Peter 2:21).
Why do people who know the will of God deliberately disobey it? I believe it is pride. Man likes to boast that he is the "master of his fate, the captan of his soul." Man has accomplished so many marvelous things that he thinds he can do anything.
Another reason is man's ignorance of the nature of God's will. He acts as though the will of God is something he can accept or reject. In reality, the will of God is not an option, it is an obligation. We cannot "take it or leave it." Because He is the Creator and we are the creatures, we must obey Him. Because His is the Savior and Lord, and we are His children and servants, we must obey Him. To treat the will of God lightly is to invite the chastening of God in our lives.
Many people have the mistaken idea that the will of God is a formula for misery. Just the opposite is true! It is disobeying the Lord's will that leads to misery. The Bible and human experience, are both witnesses to this truth. And even if a disobedient Christian seems to escape difficulty in this life, what will he say when he faces the Lord?
Jesus said: "And that servant who knew his master's will, and did not prepare himself or do according to his will shall be beaten with many stripes. But he who did not know, yet committed things deserving of stripes, shall be beaten with few. For everyone to whom much is given, from him much will much will be require, and to whom much has been committed, of him they will ask the more" (Luke 12:47, 48).
What happens to Christians who deliberately disobey the know will of God? They are chastened by God the Father until they did (read Hebrews 12:5 - 11). If a professed believer is not chastened, it is evidence that he has never truly been born again. It is because "if you endure chastening, God deals with you as with sons; ..." (Heb. 12:7). And born-again Christians are sons (children) of God.
But there is also the danger of losing heavenly rewards. In 1 Cor. 9:24 - 27, Paul compared the believer to a runner in the Greek races. In order to qualify for a crown, he had to obey the rules of the game. If any contestant was found to have disobeyed the rules, he was disqualified and humiliated. Paul said: "But I keep under my body, and bring it into subjection: less that by any means, when I have preached to others, I myself should be a castaway" (1 Cor. 9:27, KJV, emphasis added).
The word "castaway" does not refer to the loss of salvation, but the loss of reward. Paul meant, he might be "disqualified" - as in the NKJV.
Disobeying God's will today may not seem a serious thing, but it will appear very serious when the Lord returns and examines our works. Paul said: "And whatever you do, do it heartily, as to the Lord and not to men, knowing that from the Lord you will receive the reward of the inheritance; for you serve the Lord Christ. But he who does wrong will be repaid for what he has done, and there is no partiality" (Col 3:22 - 25).
Obeying God's will (James 4:15)
James said: "Instead you ought to say, 'If the Lord wills, we shall live and do this or that'" (James 4:15).
Notice that, "If the Lord wills" is not just lips service; it is the constant attitude of a believer's heart. Jesus said: "My food is to do the will of Him who sent Me, and to finish His work" (John 4:34). We should do likewise.
Paul referred to the will of God often in his Epistles as he shared his plans with the Churches he wrote to (Rom. 1:10; 15:32; 1 Cor. 4:19; 16:7). Paul did not consider the will of God a chain that shackled him; rather, it was a key that opened doors and set him free.
Notice that, there is the general will of God and also the specific will of God. Every commandment in the Bible addressed to believers is part of the general will of God, and must be obeyed. For exampe, it is God's will that we yield ourselves to Him (2 Cor. 8:5). It is God's will that we avoid sexual immorality (1 Thess. 4:3). All Christians should rejoice, pray and thank God (1 Thess. 5:16 - 18). But God does not call each of us to the same work in life, or to exercise the same gifts and ministry. The specific will of God is "tailor-made" for each of us!
The believer's relationship to the will of God is a growing experience. First, we should know His will (Acts 22:14). The will of God is not difficult to discover. If we are willing to obey, He is willing to reveal (John 7:17). God does not reveal His will to the curious or the careless, but to those who are ready and willing to obey Him.
We must not stop with merely knowing some of God's will. God wants us to be "filled with the knowledge of His will in all wisdom and spiritual understand" (Col. 1:9). It is wrong to want to know God's will about some matters and ignor His will in other matters. Everything in our lives is important to God, and He has a plan for every area of our lives.
God wants us to understant His will (Eph. 6:17). As the "friends" of Jesus Christ, we have the privilege of kowing why God does what He does (John 15:15). it is interesting to know that the Israelites knew what God was doing, but Moses understood why He was doing it (Ps. 103:7).
We must also prove God's will (Rom. 12:2). We learn to determine the will of God by working at it. The more we obey, the easier it is to discover what God wants us to do. We start with the thing we know we ought to do, and we do that. Then God opens the way for the next step. We prove by experience what the will of God is. We learn both from successes and failures.
Finally, we must do God's will from the heart (Eph. 6:6). If our heart is after God'will, we will do God's will.
What are the benefits of doing the will of God? For one thing, you enjoy a deeper fellowship with the Lord (Mark 3:35). Secondly, you have the privilege of knowing God's truth (John 7:17), and seeing your prayer answered (1 John 5:14, 15). Thirdly, there is an eternal quality to the life and works of the one who does the will of God (1 John 2:15 - 17) - "... he who does the will of God abides forever" (John 2:17).
Conclusion
The only right attitude, the one God wants us to have, is to obey His will. The Christian who knows, loves, and obeys the will of God will enjoy God's blessing. His life may not be easier, but it will be holier and happier.
David, the psalmist said: "I delight to do Your will, O my God, and Your law is within my heart" (Ps 40:8). In other word, it will be the joy and delight of the heart of the one who does
God's will.
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