Beware of Prideful Boasting - James 4:13-16

Beware of Prideful Boasting - James 4:13-16
Written by LaRosa Johnson
Tuesday, September 09, 2008

Up to this point, the entirety of James 4 has dealt with the issue of carnality and returning to right fellowship with the Lord. As we reach the close of this chapter, James gives yet another warning concerning sin, and this is one that many find themselves taking part in, whether we're aware of it or not. Unlike the overt sins that were spoken of in the beginning of the chapter, this particular sin is not as easily recognized, unless taken to its extreme. What we are dealing with here is the issue of prideful boasting, as we open up our Bibles to today's passage in James 4:13-16.

Quote :

James 4:13-16 (NASB) - 13Come now, you who say, “Today or tomorrow we will go to such and such a city, and spend a year there and engage in business and make a profit.” 14Yet you do not know what your life will be like tomorrow. You are just a vapor that appears for a little while and then vanishes away. 15Instead, you ought to say, “If the Lord wills, we will live and also do this or that.” 16But as it is, you boast in your arrogance; all such boasting is evil.

Unlike most of this chapter, this handful of verses is pretty straightforward and doesn't require much work with the Greek, so we will take it at face value and draw our application from there. So, what is it that we have here? We start off with an entrepreneur who has made up his mind that he is soon going to go to a presumably large city to start a business venture, spend some there and make lots of money. At face value, there is absolutely nothing wrong with this; God has given us the command to work (2 Thess. 3:10), so it is perfectly understandable that we need to work in order to sustain ourselves with food, clothing, and shelter. What then is the problem? Although very brief in his description, it is notable that God is not in the midst of these plans. What we have here is a person who is making plans on his own accord without taking into account God or His will. You could probably describe this as most people who are trying to live out the American dream, making plans to get wealthy, own a large house, drive a nice car, have a family and kids, and so on, but all without a single thought of God.

Now, we have to ask ourselves, what exactly is the problem here? Is it the fact that these people are making plans? This is certainly not the case because we know that it is wise to plan and make provision for the future, but it all has to be done with God as the focus. When we move forward to verse 14, we see that we clearly do not know what our life is going to be like from one day to the next. We all know the phrase "life is short," but how often do we take that statement to heart and realize that our life could be required of us at any moment? It is prideful to say that you're going to do this or that, and saying it in such a manner that you have absolutely no doubt that it's going to come to pass. For all you know, you could die in your sleep and never have the opportunity to make that happen. For example, you could have plans to buy a brand new house because you just got a brand new job, but you're not going to be able to buy that house if you find yourself without a job the very next day. Take Job for example, one day he had lots of livestock, servants, many children, and lots of wealth; but within a single day it was all taken away from him. What if Job was banking on his wealth and had made plans to use it for business? He wouldn't have been able to follow through because of what had happened to him. Yet another example can be found in Luke 12:18-20, where we find a parable of a rich man and his barns. Indeed, Proverbs 27:1 holds true when it tells us, "Do not boast about tomorrow, For you do not know what a day may bring forth." Life is short and we don't know what a day will hold, therefore we need to keep God in the mix.

What then does it look like for us to keep God in view? James 4:15 makes absolutely clear what our attitude should be when it comes to making any kind of plans. The verse tells us that we should say, "If the Lord wills..." What does that mean? Well, it simply means that we are in full recognition that God is sovereign and has the authority to overrule any plans that we may have set for ourselves. Yes, we can make our plans in full faith that this is what the Lord has for us; but, if those plans change, we are prepared to go with the flow without getting bent out of shape. Going back to Job, he still kept God center stage, even after everything was taken from him. Instead of doing what his wife said by cursing God and killing himself, he sought the Lord, remembering that he brought nothing into the world and would take nothing with him to his grave. In other words, Job knew that God was still in control, even with all the calamity that happened and didn't go according to what Job had likely planned for his life. In much the same manner, we too need to respond in much the same way, making plans with the Lord's will in full view, knowing that it may override anything that we have set out to do.

Finally, verse 16 tells us that it is evil to boast in such a way that we fail to account for God. What makes it evil? First, it's failing to put God first in your life, which is a clear and blatant sin. Secondly, you are making your goals and plans into an idol, which is idolatry. Third, you are not walking in God's ways so you are in sin because you are not in line with His will. The bottom line is that making plans without a thought for God and the brevity of human life is a sin and it is a sin of pride. Any and all plans that we make, as believers, should be done in humility and in recognition of God and His overall plan.

When we come back next time, we will look at the final verse of this chapter and start making our way through the final chapter of James. Until then, keep your mind focused on Christ!

devotion courtesy of Trailblazin Ministries
http://www.trailblazinministries.com/devotions/james074.php