The Valley of Death Value of Today

The Valley of Death

Value of Today

Now 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." Why, 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. Instead, you ought to say, "If it is the Lord's will, we will live and do this or that."  As it is, you boast and brag. All such boasting is evil.  Anyone, then, who knows the good he ought to do and doesn't do it, sins.        

  James 4:13-19

Don’t let your goals and plans

Your accomplishments that give you a right to boast and be proud

Get in the way of God’s will for today

“To do Good”

Value of Today

I am sure you have said at the end of a day…

 “I will see you tomorrow.”

We take for granted tomorrow will come

and we will continue the next day

as if tomorrow will come.

James gives us a sobering thought about

the way we look at our tomorrows…

“Now 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."

James seems to be talking to all of us.

We live each day making plans

and thinking of our tomorrows.

Living a daily life “business as usual”.

James reminds us that we

cannot be sure of tomorrow.

James asks a question…

 “What is your life?”

The answer is your life and mine is short like the

morning fog that is burned off in a few hours.

If you have ever visited a loved one in hospice,

you might have caught yourself saying out of

habit as you left, “I will see you tomorrow”.

   

In the Valley of Death, we are reminded that

there are no guarantees of tomorrow.

James wants to remind us of the value of life…

 The value of each day of our lives.

It is not wrong to plan a day at the beach or

go to work to have more spending money.

But it should not get in the way of doing good.

We are reminded to look at each

day as to God’s will above ours.

God is the one who gives us life

and that life is given with purpose.

The awareness of how short life is helps us

put into perspective what is important.

James says we should approach

each day as if it is God’s will.

Not just God’s will that we live another

day, but His will for that day.

James says…

 “Anyone, then, who knows the good

he ought to do and doesn't do it, sins.”

We read about Jesus and how He

went about each day “doing good”.

Jesus said…

 “I do only what I see the Father in Heaven doing.”

Jesus looked at each day as “if it be thy will”.

We read about the miracles Jesus did

but should not forget they were a result

of daily doing good consistently.

  

Many of us have a hard time seeing the purpose

of our lives, we don’t see us as God sees us.

God has a simple plan for your life…

 The plan is for you and I to “do good”

consistently every day.

The life that does not let our plans get in

the way of doing good will have purpose.

And at the end of our days people

who knew us will honor our lives.

I was at the funeral home the other day,

 a friend who lived 79 years passed.

The funeral home was packed and

the one thing everyone said was…

“Paul was a good man!”

Paul lived for Christ as a good man.

 He was a business man who had the

reputation of never cheating anyone.

He did good to everyone.

Paul’s life is a powerful testimony to living

a good life and not letting his

plans get in the way of doing good.

There are a lot of things we can do in life

that can make us feel good, things we can

brag about and boast of our accomplishments.

In the end did those things get in the way of the

simple task of God’s will for us “to do good”?

Let us do good to all people

with as much as lies within us.

Remember what Jesus says to the faithful ones…

“Well done thou good and faithful servant.”

Scripture Reading

Do Good

 Matthew 12:12; Luke 6:27; 6:33; 6:35; Romans 7:21; Galatians 6:10;

Ephesians 2:10; 1 Timothy 6:18; Hebrews 13:16; 1 Peter 3:11

 James 4:13-17 NIV

13 Now 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." 14 Why, 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. 15 Instead, you ought to say, "If it is the Lord's will, we will live and do this or that." 16 As it is, you boast and brag. All such boasting is evil. 17 Anyone, then, who knows the good he ought to do and doesn't do it, sins.