Life's a Wisp of Fog
James 4:13-17
There are a lot of atheists in churches. Not the theological variety, but the practical kind. The practical atheist would say that he believes that there is a God and even that he trusts him, but he lives his life as if there isn't a God. He never bothers to talk to God. He never spends any time in fellowship with God. He plans his life without any reference to God whatsoever. Intellectually he may believe that there is a God, but practically he lives his life just like there is not a God who exists.
That's what James is going to deal with in this passage.
James 4:13-17
I want you to notice that as he begins this section,
I. He Draws a Picture.
He draws here a picture in verse 13. If you will look at this picture in its Oriental setting you will probably see here a Jewish merchant. He's got on his long flowing robe. He's got on his sandals. His camels are loaded and he’s getting ready to go on another business venture. He is going on a merchant journey.
If we were to put that in modern terms, you could imagine a corporate headquarters somewhere. You will see a business man and he's got on his Armani suit and he has his Rolex watch.
He is in an office that is carpeted, and computers are whirling and fax machines are printing. Cell phones are going off and business charts are all over the walls, and the corporate jet is warming up out at the hangar. He's getting ready to go on a business venture.
In this venture he tells us several things. As we look at the picture which James draws here we will discover that he presumes several things. For instance, you will notice first of all he presumes about "when." He says, "Today or tomorrow." He is presuming about his time frame.
He has already picked his time. You will notice here that he presumes upon time, "Today or tomorrow." He is presuming that he knows what today is going to bring and that he knows what tomorrow is going to bring.
The problem with that is you don't know what tomorrow's going to bring. You sit here this evening and you look quite healthy and you are feeling quite well. But you do not have an idea what one day is going to bring.
Yet he says, "Today or tomorrow we will go into such a city." He presumes upon the when. But he also presumes upon the where. He says, "We will go into such a city." Evidently on the map there is a city that is already been colored in red. They have decided that this is exactly where they are going to go. They have picked the location of their next business venture. They are going to locate some more headquarters at this particular place.
"In such a city." All of the highways are leading to that city. All of the projections are that this is going to be where the next boom will occur. The indications are that the prospects for prosperity are quite good there and the city government has made some very good concessions. They have picked their city. He is presuming where in this passage.
He presumes not only the when and not only the where but also the what. He says, "And continue there a year, and buy and sell, and get gain."
He's saying that it's going to take us just about a year. "All we've got to do is go over there and put about a year of our time and invest about a year of our assets and about a year of our business skills, and we're going to buy and we're going to sell." He is presuming upon a year and yet, as we've indicated, he doesn't even know what a day is going to bring forth.
He says, "We're going to buy and we're going to sell." He's already decided the activity and he says, "We're going to get gain." What it's saying is, "It just can't miss." This is one of these deals that it just can't go wrong.
Have you ever had anybody offer you a deal like that? Here is some stock that just can't go wrong. Have you ever bought any stock and they said, "This stuff is going to triple. It's going to double and you're going to get rich." Your eyes get real big. You get dollar signs in them. You're interested in that kind of deal.
There is no consideration whatsoever that instead of a boom there might be a bust. Instead of great financial gain there might be a recession. You know there difference between a recession and a depression. Recession is when your neighbor is out of a job. Depression is when you’re out of a job.
He has presumed upon the when. He has presumed upon the where. He has presumed upon the what. And from that, a picture emerges, and with the picture comes a question: "What's wrong with this picture?"
There is certainly nothing wrong with making plans. The Bible tells us that it is perfectly proper for us to make plans, and there is nothing wrong with us getting involved in a business venture. It is a good thing for people to plan. It is a good thing for people to work and to make plans for the future.
There is certainly nothing wrong with making money if you make it honestly and if you use it wisely. In fact, I hope you make a whole lot of money and I hope you give a whole lot of it to your church. That's what I pray for. So there is nothing wrong with making money.
I want you to notice now that not only does he draw the picture here, but
II. He Detects a Problem.
verse 16
He calls everything that I have mentioned in verse 13 boastings. It was a word that was used for a quack medicine doctor, who would come in those medicine shows, and would propose cures and promise cures that he could not produce. What he's saying is that you are just bragging about something that may not happen. You are making plans that may never occur. All such boastings are evil and all such rejoicing is evil.
What is the problem that he detects? The problem that he detects here is the fact that the man has not taken into consideration several realities of life. For instance, James points out first of all the uncertainty of life.
Verse 14 s
Life is very uncertain. You cannot just presume upon the future because you do not know what the future is going to hold. There is an uncertainty of life.
There are a lot of people presuming upon tomorrows that will never come. Whatever you are going to do you had better do it today. You may not have tomorrow to do it. Whatever decision you are going to make you had better make that decision tonight because you may not have tomorrow. The uncertainty of life.
The other problem is he presumes secondly upon the brevity of life. Life is very brief.
First Chronicles 29, verse 15, says, "For we are strangers before thee, and sojourners, as were all our fathers; our days on the earth are as a shadow, and there is none abiding." How brief is a shadow?
Job 7, verse 6, says, "My days are swifter than a weaver's shuttle, and are spent without hope." How fast is a weaver's shuttle?
Psalm 90, verse 9, says, "For all our days are passed away in thy wrath; we spend our years as a tale that is told," just a story you tell. How quickly is it told and then it's all over? That's the way life is.
Some of you look back and it's hard for you to imagine you are the age you are. It seems just like yesterday you were a young married man or it seems just a few days ago that you were a teenager. Now you are facing retirement and you're facing the fourth quarter of your life. There is brevity of life.
James discusses the brevity of life with this picture.
verse 14
It's just like a little wisp of fog. It's just like that morning fog that for a moment it's here and then it is gone. How brief is life.
We try to prolong life, don't we? We're in a fitness craze now. Everybody's trying to get in shape. You get yourself on a good diet and then you get into an exercise program. We've got personal trainers and people are trying to prolong their life.
And we do all these things in order to extend the length of our life, but the truth of the matter is death is gaining on you every day. Your life is like a vapor. It appears for a little while, then it's gone.
You life is like a puff of smoke. It's like a wisp of fog, and it's gone before you know it. You had better do what you are going to do while you have time to do it.
He doesn't consider the brevity of life. He doesn't consider the uncertainty of life. He does not take into consideration the sanctity of life.
verse 15
The problem was that this man left God out of his planning. This man left God out of his life. He didn't seem to give any consideration whatsoever to God.
How are you living your life tonight? Are you giving any consideration to God? There is the sanctity of life. God has a plan. God has a purpose for your life. There is a meaning for your existence. There is a reason why you are here. It is a foolish person who lives their life as if there is no God, and it is a foolish person who lives their life as if all there is to life is the material and to presume upon it.
So James, first of all draws a picture for us. Second of all he detects a problem. Then third,
III. He Describes a Plan.
verse 15
He's saying that you ought to live your life around the will of God.
One of my favorite verses in the Bible, and I quote it a lot and it would be a good verse for you to memorize, is Romans 12, verse 2. It says, "And be not conformed to this world, but be ye transformed by the renewing of your mind, that ye may prove what is that good, and acceptable, and perfect, will of God."
The word prove carries the idea of finding and following God's will for your life.
You can find the will of God. God does have a plan for your life. You can find the will of God for your life.
A lot of people think that the will of God is kind of like a cafeteria that you just go through the cafeteria line and you pick this and leave that, and you choose this and you leave that off. Some people think that God just lays out a cafeteria line, and you can just pick what you want and leave what you don't want.
God has a plan for your life. You don't pick and choose. You've got to be willing to do the will of God, whatever it is, if you want to find the will of God. But when you make the decision that you are willing to do the will of God, God has committed Himself to show you His will in your life.
You say, "How do you do it?" You start off with what you know is the will of God. Go through your Bible and find the things in the Bible that you know to be the will of God for your life and begin to do those things.
For instance, the Bible says, "Be ye thankful for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus concerning you." The Bible says, "Abstain from fornication for this is the will of God." Start doing the things in the Bible you know are the will of God, and then God will begin to reveal other things to you about His will.
God's got a plan for your life. Find the will of God.
Then follow the will of God.
verse 15, 17
Do the will of God. Follow the will of God in your life.
Somewhere along the way, we’ve become convince that doing God’s will is the awfulest, most distasteful thing we could ever imagine. You’ll be unhappy and miserable and separated from family and friends and never have any enjoyment in life, but praise the Lord, you’ll be in His will.
I don't know where we got that. It’s kind of like taking medicine. We know it’s good for us, but it is so unpleasant.
Listen: Doing the will of God is the most wonderful, exciting life you can ever possibly live. The will of God is what you would choose for yourself if you had enough wisdom to make that kind of choice.
I think about my children. Think about your children, those of you who are parents. Let's just suppose that one of your children came to you and said,
"Dad and Mom, I love you and I want you to know that I want to please you and I want to do anything that you would have me to do. So this day is your day. You just plan the day for me and I'll do anything."
What are you going to do? Are you going to sit down and say, "Oh, boy. I've got him now right where I want him. He has turned this day over to me. Let me see here. I'm going to pick out all the things he doesn't like to do like cut the grass and wash the car and clean up his room. I'm going to pick out everything I know that is distasteful and I'm going to cram that day full of things that he just can't stand to do." That's not what you would do.
If you had a child who came to you and said, "Dad and Mom, I love you so much. I'll do anything you want me to do today." It would so thrill you that what you would do is you would pick out the things they enjoy doing more than anything else and you would make that day the greatest day in their life. You certainly would.
We have a heavenly Father who loves us. It delights Him. It thrills His heart when we come to Him and say, "Lord, here's my life. I'll do Your will whatever You want me to do." The moment you make up your mind that you are willing and want to do the will of God, God just unfolds and leads you into the most grand and the most glorious and the most wonderful life you can ever live.
What is your life? It is a vapor. It's here for just a little while and it vanishes and it passes away. Life is like a vapor.
Life does get by in a hurry. Have you every thought about how brief life is and how you live your life? The average heart beats about 50 to 60 beats a minute.
Did you know that it is all done involuntarily, that your heart beats involuntarily? As you live your life that old heart is just beating all the time. When you are young you are just active and that heart just beats. You go out at recess and play ball and that old heart beats. You don't have to tell it to beat. You don't have to sit up at night to see if that heart is going to beat. It's just beating. Life just moves on.
Then you get into the teen years. You're playing football and you're cheerleading and you are in the band and that heart just beats. Then you get on into college and that heart just keeps on beating all through those years.
Then you meet Mr. Wonderful or Miss Drop-Dead Gorgeous and your heart beats faster. You just fall in love and you get married. Then those children come along and you're working hard and she's working hard and you are bringing up those children. They get to be teenagers themselves. Then grandbabies come along and you get all excited about that. That old heart just keeps on beating thousands and millions of beats.
You come down to retirement and your company calls you in and they give you a gold watch for your retirement and a little retirement income. You say to your wife, "We're going to build us a little place up on the lake now. We're just going to enjoy life.
We're going to do some things we have always wanted to do and go some places we always wanted to go."
And one morning your wife can't arouse you. She calls 911 and they come and they put the paddles on your heart. They shock your heart, but it doesn't move and your life is like a vapor and you are out into eternity.
Let me ask you a question. When the time comes for you, will you be ready? God says His will for you in negative and positive terms, "It is not the will of your Father that any should perish."
Positively, He says that He will have all people to be saved and to come to the knowledge of the truth.
You may go to sleep tonight feeling good, feeling healthy. Somehow through the night just one little snap in the brain, one blood clot, and it's all over. Are you ready? Are you ready to meet God?
Let's bow our heads in prayer.
