If The Lord Wishes

Meditations in the Season of Lent 

March 21, 2023

If The Lord Wishes

Instead you ought to say, “If the Lord wishes, we will live and do this or that.”

James 4:15 (NRSV)

Read: James 4:11-17

On several occasions over the years, I have shared one of my favorite prayers, The Prayer of Adoration that includes the line, “I am not my own, I am Thine. By creation and redemption, I am Thine.” In today’s passage, James illustrates an application of this prayer.

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.” 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. What you ought to say is, “If the Lord wants us to, we will live and do this or that.” (v.13-15)

This is much more than semantics. Verse 15 is an acknowledgement that our lives belong to God, and, thus, we seek God’s wisdom and leading in all that we do. Often, Cheryl and I simply pray, “Lord, order our steps.” The Apostle Paul also warned about the dangers of being corrupted by the world and in the importance of leaning into God’s will for us.

“Don’t copy the behavior and customs of this world, but let God transform you into a new person by changing the way you think. Then you will learn to know God’s will for you, which is good and pleasing and perfect.” (Romans 12:2)

My Takeaway: James continues to give us appropriate Lenten messages when he admonishes us, “Remember, it is sin to know what you ought to do and then not do it.” (v.17) I suspect our sins of omission may well exceed our sins of commission.  

Sē’lah

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(Selah is a word that appears in the Book of Psalms that I often use as the Complimentary Closing in my correspondence. Its meaning, as I use the word, is to pause and think about these things.)

 

These meditations are written by Alex M. Knight as he seeks the life in Christ as his way of life.  The meditations are published on the BLOG, http://seekingthelifeinchrist.blogspot.com/ and they are also distributed on the Constant Contact email server. You may subscribe to this email service by sending an email to: amkrom812@gmail.com.

 

Copyright © 2023 by Alex M. Knight

 

Unless otherwise indicated, all Scripture quotations are taken from the Unless otherwise indicated, all Scripture quotations are taken from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Inc., Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.