神若愿意
雅各书四章11至17节
11弟兄们，你们不可彼此批评。人若批评弟兄，论断弟兄，就是批评律法，论断律法。你若论断律法，就不是遵行律法，乃是判断人的。
12设立律法和判断人的，只有一位，就是那能救人也能灭人的。你是谁，竟敢论断别人呢？
13嗐！你们有话说：「今天明天我们要往某城里去，在那里住一年，做买卖得利。」
14其实明天如何，你们还不知道。你们的生命是甚么呢？你们原来是一片云雾，出现少时就不见了。
15你们只当说：「主若愿意，我们就可以活着，也可以做这事，或做那事。」
16现今你们竟以张狂夸口；凡这样夸口都是恶的。
17人若知道行善，却不去行，这就是他的罪了。
信息分享
你对明天发生的事，究竟有多大把握呢？为未来计划，是我们生活的一部分；很多人都习惯把明天要做的工作仔细列出来，以免有任何遗漏。预先计划虽然是好事，可是，我们却必须紧记，我们的生命是掌握在神的手中。神的计划，可能有别于我们的计划，即使是今天发生的事，也可能会出乎我们的意料之外。当我们发现我们的计划行不通的时候，我们究竟是否愿意跟从神的带领？
雅各在这里是要指出，信徒若只是我行我素地议定未来的计划，完全没有考虑到神的心意，那么，他就根本就与世俗的人无异。箴言三章5至6节教导我们，属神的人应该：「专心仰赖耶和华，不可倚靠自己的聪明，在你一切所行的事上，都要认定他，他必指引你的路。」
雅各不是叫我们不可为未来计划，他只是提醒我们，我们在构想任何计划的时候，都应该寻求神的心意，并且谦卑地祈求祂的带领；故此，当计划受阻或需要作出改变时，我们便以一颗顺服的心，去接受神的心意。其实，我们在计划的一开始，就寻求神的带领和赐福，岂不是更能安心地去实行计划吗？
最后，雅各指出，基督徒往往知道甚么是该作的，可是，却没有去作，这就是罪。雅各的指责非常严厉，然而，他是在圣灵的感动下写下这句话的，所以，这句话便是真理。换言之，无论我们作甚么，或不作甚么，最重要是遵行神的心意。人生在世，转瞬即逝，遵行神的旨意，就是永生之道。
反思：
神说过：「我必时常引导你，在干旱之地，使你心满意足。」（以赛亚书五十八章11节）
IF THE LORD WILLS
James 4:11-17
11 Do not speak evil of one another, brethren.He who speaks evil of a brother and judges his brother, speaks evil of the law and judges the law.But if you judge the law, you are not a doer of the law but a judge.
12 There is one Lawgiver, who is able to save and to destroy.Who are you to judge another?
13 Come now, you who say, “Today or tomorrow we will go to such and such a city, spend a year there, buy and sell, and make a profit”;
14 whereas you do not know what will happen tomorrow.For what is your life? It is even a vapor that appears for a little time and then vanishes away.
15 Instead you ought to say, “If the Lord wills, we shall live and do this or that.”
16 But now you boast in your arrogance.All such boasting is evil.
17 Therefore, to him who knows to do good and does not do it, to him it is sin.
Message
How much do you know about what will happen tomorrow? We sometimes make a list of the things we are going to do tomorrow. While it is good to plan ahead, we need to remember that as Christians our lives are in God's hands. What he has planned for us, even for today, may be very different from what we have thought about. Are we willing to let God have this way today?
James says we are just like the world if we make our plans and leave God out of them. Proverbs 3:5, 6, tells us what a Christian should do. 'Trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean not to your own understanding. In all your ways acknowledge him and he will direct your paths.'
Isn't it easy to make our own plans and then ask God to bless them? Wouldn't it be better to quietly ask God to guide us in the making of those plans. Then we must be ready to have our plans changed or interrupted if that is what God wants at any point in our day or in our lives?
James says in the last verse of this chapter that a Christian very often know what he ought to do, but doesn't do it. That is sin. Those are strong words, but James is speaking under the inspiration of the Spirit of God. Therefore what he says is absolutely true, now and always. Life is short. While we live here on earth, the most important thing in our lives ought to be the will of God.
A THOUGHT:
God says, 'I will always guide you and satisfy you with good things.'(Isaiah 58:11)