Ministry of Grace Church

Come now, you who are saying, "Today or tomorrow we will go into this city, and we will spend a year there, and we will trade and we will make a profit";

Truth to Learn

Making plans apart from the will of God is selfish and stupid.

Behind the Words

The opening phrase in this verse, “Come now,” is translated from the Greek words, age nun. Age is an expression of leadership used to get attention and give direction and nun simply means “now.” Used as it is here, it is an attention grabber to shake us out of our prideful sniping and slandering of others so that we can see that we who are judging others have our own problems.

“This city” is a translation of tēnde tēn polin, which literally translates as “such a city” or “this city.” The picture is of two people looking at a map and one of them pointing to a city saying, “We will go to this city.”

The expression “spend a year” is from the Greek poiēsomen eniauton. The word poiēsomen is a form of poieō, meaning “to make” or “to do” and the word eniauton refers to a literal year. So this person is saying, “We will do a year there.”

“Trade” is an interpretation of the word emporeusomai, which literally means “to travel in.” It is related to the noun emporos which refers to a merchant, that is, someone who travels around trading goods. So, metaphorically, it means “to trade” or “to buy and sell.”

The expression “make a profit” is translated from the verb kerdainō, meaning “to win” or “to get gain.”

Meaning Explained

It may seem that James is making an abrupt change in subject matter with this verse, but I think he is making a subtle point in his apparent change of emphasis. In the previous two verses he spoke against our inclination to be critical of others. James knows that because we are so critical of others, we don’t see the problems in our own lives.

In his letter to the Christians in Rome, the Apostle Paul said this about those who pass judgment on others:

Therefore, O man, you are without excuse, everyone who judges, for in whatever you judge another you condemn yourself; for you, those judging, practice the same things. (Romans 2:1)

When we have our eyes on others, critically examining their actions, we fail to see the problems with our own actions. But, when we have our eyes on God, recognizing how far short we fall compared to His holiness, we become humbled, not proud.

Now, is James trying to tell us that it is wrong to plan? No, that’s not what he’s saying at all. In this verse and the two that follow James is talking about boastful pride. To plan for the future is good as long as we recognize who is in control of our future, but to arrogantly believe that we are in control of our own future is nothing more than the sin of selfish pride.

Application

Do you have plans for your future? Do those plans include how you will serve God for the remainder of your days? Those are good plans to have, but remember that God’s plans for you may be different. Are you willing to follow Him no matter what His plan may be?