We Are Not the Wielders of Time

James 4:16

James calls us out in verse 16 when he says, "As it is, you boast in your arrogance. All such boasting is evil."

I believe that this is a tough verse to comprehend at times. It is short, but does carry a powerful meaning. So let us begin. "As it is..." In the beginning of this paragraph, James was previously saying how we shouldn't take our days for granted. So here, when he says that "As it is", he is referring to expecting tomorrow to come without a thought about it. "...you boast in your arrogance." Right here, James tells that as soon as we boast, we are being arrogant. Any type of boasting is a slight revealing of arrogance in our hearts. That is something that is detesting to others as well as God, for her then says "All such boasting is evil." We are showing evil in our hearts when we boast and reveal arrogance. By expecting tomorrow to come and to boast about anything in our lives, we are showing evil and arrogance inside of us.

The meaning here might be obvious now; take nothing for granted, for by doing so, you are being boastful and arrogant. James straight up tells us that when we expect things to work our way and put no thought in God changing our plans, we become arrogant and boastful. We need to be thankful just for the time God is giving us to read this blog. Thankful for the time He has given us to rest our bodies and sleep. Thankful for the mornings and the days He let's us get to a from locations safely in our cars. We need to be thankful for everything. We are not the holders of time nor do we have control over the days given to us, so who are we to expect tomorrow to come and to make plans when we don't even know if we will live though today? We must learn to be humble and be graciously thankful  for what has been given to us by the true wielder of time.