Irresponsible Planning

Thursday evening, August 14, 2008 [86 degrees and beautiful],
"Come now, you who say, 'Today or tomorrow, we shall go to such and such a city, and spend a year there and engage in business and make a profit.' Yet 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. Instead, you ought to say, 'If the Lord wills, we shall live and also do this or that.' But as it is, you boast in your arrogance; all such boasting is evil. Therefore, to one who knows the right thing to do, and does not do it, to him it is sin" (James 4:13-17).
To be honest, James’ writing style can be a bit distracting; especially, in light of the way he shifts from one subject to another without any warning. This passage serves as a good example because it forces my mind to wander from its focus on what appeared to be his theme, to wondering what prompted these seemingly off-the-wall comments. It seems that he ended verse 12 and left for a month’s sabbatical, and when he returned he started writing about whatever was on his mind at that time. Even so, it is Holy writ, so we should examine it.
Most of us have been taught the benefits of planning for the future; however, most of us neglected to practice what we have been taught. For example, most of us know that financial planning is a good thing but most never make financial plans, not even a simple budget; consequently, few of us have any financial goals. The trend today is to live from paycheck to paycheck and hope for the best, oftentimes with the erroneous mindset that says, “I am doing all I can do.”
In much the same way, most of us know that spiritual planning is a good thing but most of us never make spiritual plans; consequently, few of us have any spiritual goals. As a result, most wander aimlessly through the Christian life, wondering why the journey is so confusing and so difficult. The trend today is to live from sermon-to-sermon, oftentimes with the erroneous mindset that says, “I do not have the time or the ability to dig it out for myself.”
My point is this: Planning is a good thing, a very good thing, and we must never be deceived into believing anything less. Having said that, James is making an even greater point and it is this (said succinctly): Be careful about making plans you cannot change because you have no idea what will be going on in your life tomorrow, much less next year, not to mention that God just might have some plans of His own for you, plans that are diametrically opposed to yours. He goes on to tell us that our making plans without having first submitted them to Him, is not only boasting, but also boasting in our arrogance, which, of course, in any case, is evil.
It took me a while to understand why he closed this portion with these very haunting and familiar words: therefore, to one who knows the right thing to do, and does not do it, to him it is sin; however, it finally became obvious: We struggle to do what we know is the right thing to do because we have already made plans—selfish plans—to do otherwise.
What have you planned for tomorrow, for next week, for next year that will interfere with your doing what you know is the right thing to do?