James 4:13
Go to now, ye that say, To day or to morrow we will go into such a city, and continue there a year, and buy and sell, and get gain: Go to now, ye that say, To day or to morrow we will go into such a city, and continue there a year, and buy and sell, and get gain:
The verse pictures people confidently laying out their own future of travel and trade and profit for a year to come without regard for what God intends.
That confidence is presumption because life is brief and uncertain like a vapor, no one holds a lease on life or strength, and only the present Now is given.
The future is not ours to calculate or control, for God knows the end from the beginning and may have different work for us and overrule our plans.
All plans for work and gain must therefore be made in dependence on God, spoken as subject to the Lord's will and held ready to carry out or abandon as His providence directs.
Because probation will close and judgment is near, the call is to consecrate ability and means to His service without delay and to work faithfully now rather than making buying and selling and getting gain the main endeavor of a life lived for self.
Presumptuous Plans Exposed
The verse pictures people deciding with full confidence that today or tomorrow they will travel to a particular city, settle there for a year, and carry on buying and selling to make a profit, without taking God's plans into account. It exposes the error of assuming business can be carried out on a self-chosen schedule, as if the future were guaranteed and probation's close under human control. Such planning is presumption because life is brief and uncertain, like a vapor that appears for a little time and then vanishes away. No one holds a lease on life, and strength and ability may soon fail, so there is no tomorrow that belongs to us; only the present Now is given, the eternal Now in which to act.
The future is not ours to calculate or control, and the plans people form for where to go and what work to do are not always the Lord's way. God knows the end from the beginning and may have different plans from ours. He may guide to different work where His will can better be accomplished, and He overrules human plans rather than following plans people have made for Him. For that reason timing must not be confidently fixed, such as fixing the time of a return, for that is left for the Lord to decide. Even a near act, such as sending a letter in two weeks, cannot be promised as certain but must be spoken only as subject to His will, if the Lord wills it to happen.
God may in love block a chosen path and let human plans fail, so that pride and self-seeking do not grow and humility is learned. When cherished projects are set aside, His plans can succeed, and hopes and opportunities withheld can prove to be great blessings. Speculating for riches, such as in lands and mines, is a dangerous form of this same presuming on the future. Even early success in it can draw a person into ruin, while hoped-for gains may end in confusion and loss, and success could harm others by tempting them into the same peril.
Dependent Service Without Delay
Plans for work and gain must be made in dependence on God rather than with confidence in a guaranteed future, since no one controls how long life will last or when probation will close. Every plan is to be placed before Him each day, ready to be carried out or abandoned as His providence directs. Such plans must be spoken as subject to the Lord's will, so that even a near act such as sending a letter in two weeks cannot be promised as certain but only if He wills it to happen.
Accepting God's plans instead of cherished projects shapes life after the divine example. The ordinary duties close at hand are sacred, and doing them may prepare a person for better work than the work wanted. Human plans may fail so that God's plans can succeed, and even hopes and opportunities withheld can prove to be great blessings.
Oneself and all one has, with God-given ability, talents and means, are to be consecrated without delay to His service and guided by the Holy Spirit. They are not to be used only for worldly business, in plans to buy and sell and gain wealth, or in selfishly securing a place on earth. Worldly concerns are not to be allowed to separate a person from Him.
Making buying, selling, and getting gain the continuing occupation and main endeavor of life is living for self instead of living for God. To make figuring for self and getting gain the main endeavor is to be filled with selfishness, to lack practical knowledge of accepting the truth in all its bearings, and to fall far short of God's measure. Life and talents are a trust to be used as a worker together with Him to advance His kingdom, and sowing selfishness and carrying selfish traits into all daily practice gives a wrong influence on others and wastes the opportunity given for test and trial.
Because probation will close, judgment is near, and each must answer to God for deeds, the verse calls people to serve the Lord now, since there is no assurance of having time to carry out their own purposes. The brief day given is to be used to work faithfully, fulfill duty, repent and return to God before probation closes. Powers are to be used to do good, giving oneself wholly to God and seeking the salvation of others rather than worldly treasure.