Boasting - James 4:16

come on now, you who say, Today or tomorrow, we will go into such and such a town and spend a year there and trade and make a profit.

As you can see, what they are saying, they are presuming to be in control of everything. So what is their root? or why they are talking like that. The root is arrogance. Why? First, they are presuming that they are in control of the time, as you can see in Today or Tomorrow. Two, they are presuming that they are in control of their movement. You can see that on We Will Go. Three, they are presuming that they are in control of their destination. You can see that in such and such a town. Four, they are presuming that they are in control of the duration of their work. They say we spend a year there. Five, they are presuming that they are in control of what they will do. You can see that on Entree. Number six, They are presuming that they are in control of how successful they will be when they get there. You can see and make a profit. So can you see the arrogance in that? We cannot see any submission to the Lord. They are self-centered people. You can see the arrogance in all its splendor. They are saying, I'm my own God. I will decide what I will do. Everything that I have, it belongs to me by my own effort. And brothers, it's so sad to see that so many times we behave in the same way. At least I know I'm guilty of it. While I was preparing for this devotional, God allowed me to see how guilty I am from this sin. I boast out of my own arrogance. And I will put you an example. As you guys know, I like to drive old trucks. I love them. One Wednesday, I remember I came in my work truck. And then the next Wednesday, I came driving my 95 F-150. And one of the brothers asked me,

hey man, how many nice trucks do you have? How do you do that?

which I reply on my own arrogance. Hard work. How wrong I was. Because I have what I have is because God allows it. I've been blessed with. I have seen people working twice as much as I work. And they have barely money to eat. So we can see how arrogant we are. at least God allowed me to see in my own life how arrogant I am. So, I'm going to turn to point number two, and it's going to be humble boasting. As we read in verse 15, it says,

instead you ought to say, If the Lord wills, we will live and do this or that.

If the Lord wills. This is a powerful statement of God's sovereignty and providence in our lives. If you have both the same way I have both, please repent. Sometimes we pull God out of our lives and we feel like we are the owners of our own lives. We're not. You can see in here, if the Lord's will, we will live today and tomorrow. If the Lord wills, we will go to such and such. If the Lord wills, we will do this or do that. Can you see the difference? Our life doesn't depend on us. We are fully dependent. You see that we cannot boast out of our arrogance? Can you see the absolute providence of God over our lives?

The Lord gives and the Lord takes away. Blessed be the name of the Lord.

We should feel it. And we should say it as a testament of his total governance of our lives. James remind us what we are in comparison to God. Because we sometimes we don't get it. who God is, and who we are. Have you ever asked yourself who you are in comparison with God? If you haven't asked yourself, if you have asked yourself and you know who you are compared to God, why you keep boasting? What you're boasting of? Let's see what our life is in verse 14.

Yet, you don't know what tomorrow will bring. What's your life? For you are a mist that appears for a little time and then vanishes.

You don't know what tomorrow will bring. Do you? Do you know if you're going to live tomorrow? What's your life? James asked that question. For your life is a mist. What is a mist? Have you ever seen a spray bottle and you press it and the mist that comes out? That's the length of your life. So why do you boast in such an arrogant way? What do you have that doesn't belong to God? He's the creator of everything. He sustained us with his power. So if you're not a Christian and you're here, God brought you here. Not because you wanted. He brought you here. He wants you to see how arrogant you are. in postponing to believe in Him. He wants you to see how needy you are. He wants us to see that we are in a spiritual bankruptcy. And we are in so much need of a Savior. Do not delay into belief because what's your life? God sent his only son to live a perfect life that you and I couldn't live. And yet he was crucified. To offer himself as a sacrifice that we couldn't offer. And with that, he bear all the blame that we supposed to bear. So you cannot even believe, you cannot even boast that you believe in God. because he opened your eyes to believe. He removed the veil out of your eyes to believe. So he already paid for all our sin, including boasting. To present us just before God and give us eternal life by faith alone, So I will close with this.

Humble yourself before the Lord, and he will exalt you.

Will you pray with me? Father, we give you thank you. Thanks, Father, because we know that we are such an arrogant people, that sometimes we don't get who you are. Please, Father, find every root, every vestige of arrogance in our lives and kill it. And help us, Father, to humble ourselves to you. Jesus, we pray. Amen.