How Will You Live Today?

-


Scripture:

James 4:13-17

Boasting about Tomorrow

Come now, you who say, “Today or tomorrow we will go to such and such a town and spend a year there, doing business and making money.” Yet you do not even know what tomorrow will bring. What is your life? For you are a mist that appears for a little while and then vanishes. Instead you ought to say, “If the Lord wishes, we will live and do this or that.” As it is, you boast in your arrogance; all such boasting is evil. Anyone, then, who knows the right thing to do and fails to do it, commits sin.

Observation:

The author was addressing the wealthy who could not be bothered with the things of God. They were consumed with their own lifestyle and the plans that they were making. At the same time there seemed to be a misconception regarding what was of “true value.” 

Humanity continues to have free will, but our lives are to be graced by God. Participating in God’s work in this world is what we do today. The things of God have permanence but the things of this world will simply fade away. That’s why boasting about the temporal means nothing. Investing in the things of God today will have eternal impact. So, do the right thing. 

Application

I am a planner and a doer. I like to get things done and check them off of my list, but God is constantly calling us into not just doing, but taking time to “be.” That’s where the question about today comes in. What is it that I will do today that will be of eternal value? How will I live today?

It’s not wrong to have long-term plans and goals, but to allow them to dominate our lives to the exclusion of truly living today can lead us into sin. Becoming so driven that we fail to see what or who is around us is a problem. Every day we will encounter people who need our attention. 

It’s far too easy to look over and take for granted the people we encounter in the every-day business of life. I’ve been praying about ways in which I can touch the lives of people I meet in ordinary ways for Christ. Two taxi drivers on Tuesday were Muslims, and I felt blessed to have lovely conversation with both of them. Yesterday I was seated next to a man who had broken English. We tried to communicate as we were on an 11 hour flight together. It was not until the 10th hour that I discovered he was from Germany. (We were on a French plane and I assumed he spoke French — which I do not) Why did it take that long to discover that we both spoke the same language? For the final hour we had a lovely conversation, but did I miss an opportunity? 

Or what about the woman at passport control who has to deal with problems all day long? Did I reflect Jesus to her? Was I kind and patient? There are so many times that we can take out our frustrations on the people we meet if there are problems. But they are not the ones responsible for the problems, they are simply doing their job. We have the opportunity to “be” different with them. And that probably includes the woman I called at Delta airlines to fix a problem with a future ticket. With all the snow delays in America they were overwhelmed by cancellations. Is it the customer service agent’s fault that flights are cancelled because of snow? Absolutely not, but their lives are now overwhelmed by calls by out of sorts travelers. How will I “be” different? 

The call for followers of Christ is to live in the moment. Don’t be uptight and frustrated about what may or may not happen in the future. Yes, have goals and plans, but never forget to live life today. Stop and listen to the voice of Jesus and then, be cognizant of ways in which you can reflect him. Life really is a mist, here today and gone tomorrow. Invest in permanence today, for people and relationships are the things that will go on. No, we won’t live forever, but if I invest in someone’s life today, they may invest in someone else tomorrow and the gift may go on for generations to come. I am a follower of Jesus Christ today because someone took the time to “be.” 

How will you live today? 

Prayer:


Lord, the slowed moments bring a depth of peace as I see your hand at work. Thank you. Amen. 

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Take Off Your Ornaments

-
Scripture: Ex. 33:4 ¶ When the people heard these harsh words, they mourned, and no one put on ornaments. Ex. 33:5 For the LORD had said to Moses, “Say to the Israelites, ‘You are a stiff-necked people; if for a single moment I should go up among you, I would consume you. So now take off your ornaments, and I will decide what to do to you.’” Ex. 33:6 Therefore the Israelites stripped themselves of their ornaments, from Mount Horeb onward. Observation: The people had sinned before God by making and worshiping the golden calf!  They had taken their golden jewelry — the earrings and other items they had gotten from the Egyptians and used them to create an idol.  Now, in an act of humility and repentance they were to take off all of their jewelry and ornaments.  It was a time of mourning over their sin and it included intentional action on the part of the Israelites.  Application: We don’t do all that well with humility and repentance!  It seems that we live in a time when we try to carry
Read more

Does God Value Boys More than Girls?

-
Scripture: Lev. 12:1 ¶ The LORD spoke to Moses, saying: Lev. 12:2 Speak to the people of Israel, saying: ¶ If a woman conceives and bears a male child, she shall be ceremonially unclean seven days; as at the time of her menstruation, she shall be unclean. Lev. 12:3 On the eighth day the flesh of his foreskin shall be circumcised. Lev. 12:4 Her time of blood purification shall be thirty-three days; she shall not touch any holy thing, or come into the sanctuary, until the days of her purification are completed. Lev. 12:5 If she bears a female child, she shall be unclean two weeks, as in her menstruation; her time of blood purification shall be sixty-six days. Lev. 12:6 ¶ When the days of her purification are completed, whether for a son or for a daughter, she shall bring to the priest at the entrance of the tent of meeting a lamb in its first year for a burnt offering, and a pigeon or a turtledove for a sin offering. Lev. 12:7 He shall offer it before the LORD, and make atonement on her
Read more

The Advantage of Sanctification

-
Scripture: Rom. 6:22 But now that you have been freed from sin and enslaved to God, the advantage you get is sanctification. The end is eternal life. Rom. 6:23 For the wages of sin is death, but the free gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord. Observation: Two sides of life are presented here in great contrast.  One is a life of sin and enslavement to evil.  The other side of life is freedom which provides the advantage of sanctification (or holiness as some translate the word) that leads to eternal life.  The options here are a life of sin, slavery and death; or freedom, holiness and eternal life.  The advantage of holiness or sanctification is the benefit of the life of freedom.  Jesus died so that we might be made holy like him and this is something that is offered as a “fruit” or “advantage” right now.  The end is eternal life — but the living of life is that it can be lived out in holiness.  The next verse is really just an affirmation of the verse 22.  Sin will lead
Read more