Christianity Oasis Forum

[cimi]

February 11
Thursday


THE OTHER
SIDE

READ:
James 4:13-17
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What is your life?
It is even a vapor.
__James
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When someone said to my friend, "See you in a year," it sounded
odd when he replied, "Yes, see you on the other side." He meant that he'd see him on the other side of a one-year deployment for the US Navy. But because the phrase is often used of heaven, it made me think about the uncertainty of life. I wondered, Who will be here in another year? Who might by then be on the other side--in heaven?

We certainly don't know what the next year--or hour--will bring. In his epistle, James wrote about this uncertainty. He rebuked the greedy merchants for boasting about what they would do that day, the next day, or even the next year (4:13). Their sin wasn't that they were making plans; it was forgetting God and arrogantly boasting about those business plans.

James reminded them: "What is your life? It is even a vapor that appears for a little time and then vanishes away" (v.14). Commentator Peter Davids says that James was pointing out their foolishness and saying, in essence, "Come now, you who make plans--you don't even understand how little control you have over life itself."

No part of life is outside the control of God. So when we make plans, we need to remember, "If the Lord wills, we shall live and do this or that" (v.15). __Anne Cetas
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````````````````````Tomorrow's plans I do not know;``````````````
```````````````````````I only know this minute;``````````````````
```````````````````But He will say, "This is the way,```````````````
```````````````````By faith now walk ye in it." __Tyberg```````````
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Write your plans in pencil
and let God have the eraser.

****************Today's Bible Reading __ James 4:13-17**********

13 Come now, you who
say, "Today or tomorrow
we will go to such and such
a city, spend a year there,
buy and sell, and make a
profit"; 14 wheres you do
not know what will happen
tomorrow. For what is your
life? It is even a vapor that
appears for a little time and
then vanishes away.

15 Instead you ought to say,
"If the Lord wills, we shall
live and do this or that."

16 But now you boast in
your arrogance. all such
boasting is evil.

17 Therefore, to him who
knows to do good and does
not do it, to him it is sin.

>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>INSIGHT<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<

Our reading today is taken from the marvelous epistle of James. It
was written by James, "the Lord's brother," who did not believe in
Jesus at first (John 7:2-5). But after the resurrection, this brother
was not only converted but became a key leader in the church at
Jerusalem (Acts 15:6-21). One of Jame's key themes is "faith." This
is not just a mental assent about Jesus Christ but an active belief
expressed through good works and righteous living. James knew
and agreed with Paul that true faith generates obedience (Eph. 2:8-
10). Because of this, James encouraged the early Jewish church to
live a life that was worthy of their profession of Jesus as the Christ.
__DENNIS FISHER

____Adapted from The Teacher's commentary