Christianity Oasis Forum

[cimi]

October 2
Thursday


FOR A LIMITED
TIME

READ:
James 4:13-17
______________________________________

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.
__James 4:14
_______________________________________

On a crisp October morning, our local newspaper featured a stunning photo of sun-drenched aspen trees whose leaves had turned autumn gold. The caption read: For a Limited Time Only. The irresistible invitation to take a drive through the mountains to savor the brilliant colors conveyed the urgency of doing it quickly. Autumn leaves that are golden today are often gone tomorrow.

Our opportunities to obey God's promptings are also fleeting. James warned against an arrogance that assumes endless days will be available to carry out our good intentions. "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.... Therefore, to him who knows to do good and does not do it, to him it is sin" (4:14,17).

Is there an act of kindness or encouragement that God has urged you to do for someone in His name? How long has it been since that first prompting? With so many demands on our time, the urgent tasks demand our attention while the important things can be postponed. But a time will come when even the important can no longer be done.

When we follow God's urging with our action now, today will be golden. __David McCasland
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```````````````````If God is prompting you today`````````````````
`````````````````To help someone who has a need,````````````````
``````````````````Don't hesitate, the time is short;````````````````
`````````````````Tomorrow is not guaranteed. __Sper`````````````
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Doing what's right today
means no regrets tomorrow.

*****************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 whereas 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<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<

There are several men named James listed in the New Testament.
Evangelical bible scholars generally believe that the book of James
was written by the half-brother of Jesus Christ (Matt. 13:55). The
family is mentioned in Mark 3:21 as opposing Jesus' teaching
ministry; they actually thought Him to be "out of His mind." But
in Acts 1:14, following Jesus' ascension, the brothers are listed
as being with the disciples in the upper room. The cause for this
change of heart seems to have been a personal visit to James by
the resurrected Christ (1 Cor. 15:7). At that time James apparently
came to faith in Jesus, eventually becoming one of the leaders of the
Jerusalem church. (Acts 15:13). __Bill Crowder