Word@Work James42 - James 4:13-14
Published: Wed, 04/08/09
Word@Work from BeaconLight
THE FOOLISHNESS OF CONFIDENT FORECASTS
James 4:13-14 Now listen, you who say, "Today or tomorrow we will go to this or that city, spend a year there, carry on business and make money." Why, you do not even know what will happen tomorrow. What is your life? You are a mist that appears for a little while and then vanishes. (NIV)
Somebody recently said that you cannot mix Christianity with business, or let your faith interfere with your professional life; because it might offend people. While that is the mantra of some officials in increasingly secularised Europe, is a foolish idea. The rest of the world knows that your family, tribe, business and art-culture are shaped by what you believe in, and that the secularist gods of power and money have no power in a crisis. James also understood the world of trading, and the reality of life, but from God's point of view. A business plan is important, but without the Lord it cannot prosper. And however much you earn, you will leave it all when you die.
They say that 'success breeds success'; that assumes that yesterday's triumph is the launch-pad for tomorrow's enterprise. It may, but equally, it may not. Those who boast of tomorrow's achievement share three characteristics with the devil, as he taunts and tempts. Neither know what will happen tomorrow; both use their predictions to suit their own manipulative purposes, but neither can guarantee their quoted outcomes. Only the Lord knows the future. Apart from the normal business hazards of critical cash-flow, market confidence and competition; there are personal issues of health, family stability, accidental catastrophe and natural disasters which can bring the world crashing down around your ears.
The Christian should not do business blindly as though he/she does not know God. Those who trust in Jesus will commit their work to him as much as their family and church. The only certainty for everybody is that we will all die, but the believer is not working against that inevitability, but towards it! The godly Christian is looking forward to the final appraisal with Jesus, and giving Him the glory for all His grace and mercy and help and strength. The secular Christian fears that moment, when all the success of earth will mean nothing, and an answer will be demanded for so much vain boasting that brings no value to God's eternal kingdom. So, what sort of a Christian are you?
Prayer: God of all power and might. Thank You for this reminder to keep my working life inside Your will; and to hold my plans lightly. May I make it my business to keep your Word in my heart as I go to work each day, and to make plans and forecasts with the knowledge that only You know the future. Please alert me to those occasions when I am too sure of future success, so that I may humbly accept You will. For Jesus Christ's sake. Amen.
You can read the verses around this Bible passage from the Internet Bible: - in English, and many other languages
Somebody recently said that you cannot mix Christianity with business, or let your faith interfere with your professional life; because it might offend people. While that is the mantra of some officials in increasingly secularised Europe, is a foolish idea. The rest of the world knows that your family, tribe, business and art-culture are shaped by what you believe in, and that the secularist gods of power and money have no power in a crisis. James also understood the world of trading, and the reality of life, but from God's point of view. A business plan is important, but without the Lord it cannot prosper. And however much you earn, you will leave it all when you die.
They say that 'success breeds success'; that assumes that yesterday's triumph is the launch-pad for tomorrow's enterprise. It may, but equally, it may not. Those who boast of tomorrow's achievement share three characteristics with the devil, as he taunts and tempts. Neither know what will happen tomorrow; both use their predictions to suit their own manipulative purposes, but neither can guarantee their quoted outcomes. Only the Lord knows the future. Apart from the normal business hazards of critical cash-flow, market confidence and competition; there are personal issues of health, family stability, accidental catastrophe and natural disasters which can bring the world crashing down around your ears.
The Christian should not do business blindly as though he/she does not know God. Those who trust in Jesus will commit their work to him as much as their family and church. The only certainty for everybody is that we will all die, but the believer is not working against that inevitability, but towards it! The godly Christian is looking forward to the final appraisal with Jesus, and giving Him the glory for all His grace and mercy and help and strength. The secular Christian fears that moment, when all the success of earth will mean nothing, and an answer will be demanded for so much vain boasting that brings no value to God's eternal kingdom. So, what sort of a Christian are you?
Prayer: God of all power and might. Thank You for this reminder to keep my working life inside Your will; and to hold my plans lightly. May I make it my business to keep your Word in my heart as I go to work each day, and to make plans and forecasts with the knowledge that only You know the future. Please alert me to those occasions when I am too sure of future success, so that I may humbly accept You will. For Jesus Christ's sake. Amen.
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