In James 4.13-17 we are counselled strongly against having the pursuit of financial prosperity be the #1 goal in our lives.
Come now, you who say, “Today or tomorrow we will go into such and such a town and spend a year there and trade and make a profit”— yet you do not know what tomorrow will bring. What is your life? For you are a mist that appears for a little time and then vanishes.Instead you ought to say, “If the Lord wills, we will live and do this or that.” As it is, you boast in your arrogance. All such boasting is evil. So whoever knows the right thing to do and fails to do it, for him it is sin.
James 4.13-17
It’s a strong word, but a word we all need right now.
The crux of what is being taught is this:
God’s Will over worldly wealth.
Again with the book of James, it would be so easy to say something like, ‘Man, I need to work really hard to plan my life properly, to not prioritise money, to prioritise God’s will, His Word, His ways, His church, His people, I need to work really hard to plan my life better.’
The problem with that is that the burden is on you, the work is on you, the outcome rests on you. We all know, don’t we, that when that’s the case, the outcome is tenuous at best, negative often, and potentially disastrous. Rather than work hard to plan our lives properly, let us seek first the Kingdom of God (Matthew 6.33), and let the Lord Jesus plan our lives. Give Him the work of directing your steps, submit your ways to His will, and watch what He is able to do with a life fully submitted to Him.
Don’t work hard to plan your own life, let Jesus do it!
James Travis 