James now addresses merchants that are making big plans to grow their businesses. Although he admonishes such persons, he is not condemning them for making plans, or even for setting the goal to make money. Rather, he is correcting an ungodly attitude. The merchant is forgetful; he has forgotten God – living, planning and acting as if God does not exist – the essence of ungodliness.
The merchants betray their self-centered pride and boasting by their emphasis on "we will" … "we will go, we will continue, we will buy and sell, we will get gain." James responds to this sort of pride by reminding his readers of the transient nature of life. The Old Testament uses many different metaphors to describe the shortness of life, including "wind," a "handbreadth" and more. James uses the metaphor of a "vapour" – like a cloud, here one moment and gone the next.
He reminds us that we do not know what tomorrow brings. Indeed, there are only two things we know about the future (and having the promise of Christ's return, death is not one of them): that God knows the future, and secondly, that we do not.
In light of these things – the transient nature of life and not knowing what tomorrow may bring – there is only one proper Christian response: to bow to our sovereign Lord and declare with all our heart, "if the Lord wills we will live, and do this, or that."
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Kurt Snow serves as a ruling elder at Covenant Reformed Church of Sacramento (RCUS). He served as a member of the Board of Governors of City Seminary of Sacramento from 2000 to 2020.
