James 5:8 You, too, must be patient. Take courage, for the coming of the Lord is near.
If I find in myself a desire which no experience in this world can satisfy, the most probable explanation is that I was made for another world. --C.S. Lewis
1. Live with URGENCY.
James 4:13-14 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.” 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.
Live as though Christ died yesterday, rose today, and is returning tomorrow. —Martin Luther
2. Submit to God’s PLAN.
James 4:15-17 What you ought to say is, “If the Lord wants us to, we will live and do this or that.” Otherwise you are boasting about your own pretentious plans, and all such boasting is evil. Remember, it is sin to know what you ought to do and then not do it.
3. Build a LEGACY.
James 5:1-6 Look here, you rich people: Weep and groan with anguish because of all the terrible troubles ahead of you. Your wealth is rotting away, and your fine clothes are moth-eaten rags. Your gold and silver are corroded. The very wealth you were counting on will eat away your flesh like fire. This corroded treasure you have hoarded will testify against you on the day of judgment. For listen! Hear the cries of the field workers whom you have cheated of their pay. The cries of those who harvest your fields have reached the ears of the Lord of Heaven’s Armies. You have spent your years on earth in luxury, satisfying your every desire. You have fattened yourselves for the day of slaughter. You have condemned and killed innocent people, who do not resist you.
4. Live with EXPECTANCY.
James 5:7-8 Dear brothers and sisters,be patient as you wait for the Lord’s return. Consider the farmers who patiently wait for the rains in the fall and in the spring. They eagerly look for the valuable harvest to ripen. You, too, must be patient. Take courage, for the coming of the Lord is near.
If you read history, you will find that the Christians who did most for the present world were precisely those who thought most of the next. –C.S. Lewis
