James 4:17 Therefore to him that knoweth to do good, and doeth it not, to him it is sin.
Calendars are a big part of everyone’s life right now in my part of my world. In November, the Bill Rice Ranch has a big calendar meeting that encompasses everything that is happening here and at West Branch. In December, I usually photocopy my paper calendar so that I have a second copy to which I can add the many Christmas events that are added to the calendar. Of course, in January we are looking at a new calendar and all the things we hope to accomplish in the coming year.
A lot of times we have assumptions about the year. We hope it will go well, we expect it will go well, or maybe we think it will go horribly. In any event, we don’t know the future. Some people in certain government agencies have the specific job to try to anticipate what an enemy would do to thwart their plans. They basically consider their plans through the possible opposition they could face in order to test the strength of their plans. But no plan is perfect. There are things we just don’t know. We don’t know the future. We don’t know what will happen tomorrow.
James 4 gives a contrast between what we do know and what we don’t know. What I find is that many times most of our energies are consumed with things we just don’t know. There is nothing we can do about what we don’t know, and we can end up ignoring the things that we can and should do right now. James basically says, “You go to town. You plan on making money, buying and selling and so on, but your life is a vapor. You don’t even know if you will be here tomorrow.” So, we do not know the future.
In contrast, verse 17 says, “Therefore to him that knoweth to do good, and doeth it not, to him it is sin.” So, we have what we don’t know, the future, and we have what we do know. If you belong to God, you know right from wrong and you should know good action from inaction. “Therefore to him that knoweth to do good, and doeth it not, it is sin.”
A good life is not defined by what you don’t do. Virtue is not a negative. It is not something that is passive. In other words, I don’t define my life by all the things I have not done. “I don’t drink, smoke, chew, or run with the folks who do.” So, there is a “therefore” to all this. Because we do not know the future, we should take action on what we know to be right, right now.
God hides the future but reveals everything you need to know in order to negotiate the future well. So, I think it is good to plan. But, at the end of the day, you don’t know the future. What you do know is what is right, right now. If you are in a situation where you honestly say, “Wil, I don’t know the right thing to do right now,” don’t you know Who to ask? James says, “If any of you lack wisdom, let him ask of God.”
Today, I don’t need to obsess about the things that I don’t know. I do need to step up on the things I do know. I do need to ask God for wisdom when I am not sure what action I should take. And, I need to remember that when I take action today and do the right thing I know to do, I am improving my prospects for the future, that which I cannot possibly know.