Just Do It!

Read James 4:13-17

Context: James, the brother of Jesus (not the apostle), wrote this letter to Jewish Christians spread throughout the world. In this chapter he has been warning the readers against worldliness.

Text:
13Now listen, you who say, "Today or tomorrow we will go to this or that city, spend a year there, carry on business and make money." 14Why, you do not even know what will happen tomorrow. What is your life? You are a mist that appears for a little while and then vanishes. 15Instead, you ought to say, "If it is the Lord's will, we will live and do this or that." 16As it is, you boast and brag. All such boasting is evil. 17Anyone, then, who knows the good he ought to do and doesn't do it, sins.(NIV)

taken from www.biblegateway.com

Do you have plans for Thanksgiving dinner yet? How about the Christmas holiday -- are you going out of town, or maybe having visitors at your home? James isn't telling us not to plan for the future in this text, I think he's telling us not to wait for the future to live our lives. He goes on to say that if we know the good we should do and don't do it, we are sinning

In the 1 Peter1 passage we've been reading all week, Peter tells us that we are like grass that withers -- here today, perhaps gone tomorrow. If you look at both of these passages together, it gives us motivation to take action now on those good things that we know we should do, not wait until we feel the time is right.

So, what can you do today that will make a difference? Did you spend time reading your Bible and praying? Can you tell a co-worker who is stressed by life's difficulties where to turn for peace? How about forgiving someone for their failures? Or maybe asking for forgiveness yourself? In most cases we know what it is we should do...we just don't want do or don't think we can. Even a small step in the right direction gets us closer to our goal!