“Humility before a Sovereign God” (James 4:13­–17)

“Humility before a Sovereign God” (James 4:13­–17)
^{Cameron Jungels/Eastside Baptist Church/Sunday AM, August 9, 2015}

James 4:13–17 (NIV)

Boasting About Tomorrow

¹³ 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.” ¹⁴ 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. ¹⁵ Instead, you ought to say, “If it is the Lord’s will, we will live and do this or that.” ¹⁶ As it is, you boast in your arrogant schemes. All such boasting is evil. ¹⁷ If anyone, then, knows the good they ought to do and doesn’t do it, it is sin for them.

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1.    Planning for the future is necessary and wise and reflects the image of God in us.

2.    Planning for the future should be done in humility, not in proud presumption.

a.    Because our lives our short and full of uncertainty, and then they are soon gone (the frailty of our lives).
b.    Because we don’t know or control the future; our Sovereign God does (the limits of our knowledge).

Do not boast about tomorrow, for you do not know what a day may bring. (Prov. 27:1, NIV)

We can make our plans, but the LORD determines our steps. (Prov. 16:9, NLT)

c.    Because to plan in presumption is to take for granted God’s good providence.

3.    While humbly planning for the future that is in God’s hands, we should seize every opportunity to do good in the present.

a.    Do good today, because you don’t know what tomorrow holds.
b.    Do good today, because you may not have a tomorrow.
c.    Do good today, because to put it off for another day is to proudly presume on the future that you do not control.

Main Idea: Remembering that our God is ultimately sovereign, we should humbly plan for the future while at the same time making the most of every opportunity today.