Slackers Take Notice!

¹³ Look here, you who say, “Today or tomorrow we are going to a certain town and will stay there a year. We will do business there and make a profit.” ¹⁴ How do you know what your life will be like tomorrow? Your life is like the morning fog—it’s here a little while, then it’s gone. ¹⁵ What you ought to say is, “If the Lord wants us to, we will live and do this or that.” ¹⁶ Otherwise you are boasting about your own plans, and all such boasting is evil.

 ¹⁷ Remember, it is sin to know what you ought to do and then not do it.

-James 4:13-17 (NLT)

I have to admit that I've read, studied and taught through the book of James often in my life, and I can't ever remember verse 17. I was reading in the devotional Our Daily Bread yesterday about slackers, and the key verses was in Proverbs 6. The writer of that devotion in ODB referenced James 4:17 as a challenge to those who are slackers in doing the will of God. I read the verse in ODB and thought, "I don't remember that one!" So I looked it up in my Bible, and there it was. What a powerful verse.

James 4:17 says, "Remember, it is sin to know what you ought to do and then not do it." Verses 13-16 in James 4 talks about our self confidence, and making our plans to do our things. How many times do you or I plan things without even making sure that is what God wants us to do. I challenge people all the time to get into God's will. Do you know God's will for your life? Verse 15 says, "What you ought to say is, 'If the Lord wants us to, we will live and do this or that.'" James is teaching his readers that they must follow what God wants. God will open doors for the calling He has put on your life. I wrote a post a while back about using your spiritual gift. A reader messaged me and asked what they should do if they can't use their gift in their church. I advised them to check and make sure the gift they think they have is actually what God wants them to do. I've come across many people who think they have a particular gift, when in reality, they do not not. You know the gift is from God when He gives you opportunities to use it. You must focus on God and what He wants done in, and through, your life. By saying this what James teaches in verse 15, you're putting the focus on God, and His will. 

If you don't put the focus on God and His will, James has a warning for you. Verse 16 says, "Otherwise you are boasting about your own plans, and all such boasting is evil." You are putting the spotlight on you, and your plans. That is wrong. A true Christian should always point to Jesus. Are you living your life in such a way as to point others to Jesus? Or, are you pointing them to you? 

James says, in verse 17, that it's a sin if you know what you ought to do, and then not do it. If you know (and I hope you do) what the will of God for your life is, are you doing it? If not, then it's a sin. How? Because if you're not doing the will of God for your life, you are proving that you really don't love God. If you don't love God, then, by the words of Jesus, you are living in sin. Jesus said in Matthew 22:37-39, when asked what the most important commandment is, replied, "‘You must love the LORD your God with all your heart, all your soul, and all your mind.’ ³⁸ This is the first and greatest commandment. ³⁹ A second is equally important: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’" You show your love for God by doing what He has commanded you.  Anything less shows you don't really love God. Are you doing what He's called you to do? If not, then it's a sin. Think About It.