Here in James 4:13, the Apostle is warning, "Co to now, ye that say, Today or tomorrow we will go into such a city, and continue there a year, and buy and sell, and get gain." James, under the inspir ation of the Holy Spirit, by modern translation is urging us, "Come on now, let's look at it reasonably!" The actual fact of the matter is that we do not know what tomorrow may bring. We could easily lose our job or find that our health is unstable and faltering. We have the mistaken idea that because certain things are taking place to day, and because we are able to do certain things for this present moment, that life will go on at this same pace as long as we want. But it never does. There is certainly nothing wrong with careful planning. The only problem here is that the individual receiving the warning in this verse is saying, "Today, or tomorrow, I'll go to such a city and stay there a year and buy and sell and get gain."
It has been suggested that when a person is young he does a lot of wishful thinking, but that when he gets old he does a lot of thoughtful wishing! The Bible has some very practical truths to suggest relative to how individuals may plan for the future. One of the key pas sages is James 4:13-15. It seems these days everyone is interested in money. This may be illustrated by the poem, "Money isn't everything, No matter how hard won. It's mostly pie you kiss goodbye, And send to Washington." It is much like the recent cartoon that shows a man sitting in his easy chair reading the evening news paper while his wife is working at the desk nearby. She is going over all of the bills for the month. He is obviously startled as she makes the pertinent observation, "Your salary covers everything except for food, clothing and shelter!" Maybe you feel that way, too.
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