James 4:13 – 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.” 14 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. 15 What you ought to say is, “If the Lord wants us to, we will live and do this or that.” 16 Otherwise you are boasting about your own plans, and all such boasting is evil. 

17 Remember, it is sin to know what you ought to do and then not do it. (NLT) 

Christian faith put into practice daily – that’s what the Book of James is all about.  In this short passage we have one of the most powerful verses concerning our daily lives, but first let’s consider the uncertainty of life.

None of us is guaranteed a tomorrow, today is a precious gift.  It is a gift to be lived to the fullest.  The Bible is full of such references to the frailty of mortal life.  Psalm 102:11 – “My life passes as swiftly as the evening shadows.”  All too often we become so preoccupied with planning for the future that we miss out on living life to the fullest right now.

The powerful verse from this passage is verse seventeen: “Remember, it is sin to know what you ought to do and then not do it.”  This brings the definition of sin to a whole new level!  We clearly know what sins of commission are – doing those things that are contrary to God’s will.  In verse seventeen we are taught about sins of omission – not doing the things that God desires.  We can live our lives with an appearance of godliness.  We can avoid, to the best of our human ability, sins of commission.  By our outward appearance many would consider us a fine example of Christianity, yet we can still be living a blatantly sinful life.  When we fail to do the things that God puts upon our hearts, we have sinned.  Was it God urging us to be more generous, and we failed to do so?  Was it God that urged us to speak to that person, and we didn’t?  When we know what we ought to do, but do not do it, we have sinned. 

We all need a Savior!  Thanks be to God that Jesus paid for our sins!  Today, let’s do two things.  First, let us thank God for grace and forgiveness.  Second, let us seek God’s Spirit to give us the strength to do what we know God desires of us.  By doing so, we will live life to the fullest, and that’s Good Stuff! 

Posted by Ramón Torres