by Ron Drumm<\/p>\n
Our world is much like the New Testament world concerning buying and selling merchandise and being involved in marketing a product. Business involves planning how to market and sell your goods. God cares about our business endeavors. But He wants us to see the importance of not boasting about our work. James calls it arrogant to boast about business efforts as if we are the ones in charge and our successes come because of what we have done (James 4:13-17).<\/p>\n
Earlier James revealed that every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, and comes down from the Father of lights, with Whom there is no variation or shadow of turning (James 1:17). God is the provider of everything we have. Our very lives come from Him. We must understand that everything we are able to do is based on God’s blessings for us (Matthew 6:25-34).<\/p>\n
Another sobering truth centers on the brevity of life. We simply have no promise of another day. Our personal life span is like a vapor that appears for a little time and then vanishes away (James 4:14). Our future lives depend on God’s providential care.<\/p>\n
So, everything that we plan to do or we are doing should be prefaced with the words, “If the Lord wills…” (James 4:15). This acknowledgment of God’s involvement in our lives demonstrates our humble attitude concerning every aspect of our day-to-day activities. If we believe that God cares about what we are doing and that God is involved in what we are doing, then we will not arrogantly boast in our work.<\/p>\n
It is important that we stay away from evil and do that which is good. In fact, when we know there is something good we should be doing and we do not do it, then we have sinned (James 4:17). We know if the Lord is willing we will be buying and selling, going to school, and living a long and prosperous life to the glory of God!<\/p>\n\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
by Ron Drumm Our world is much like the New Testament world concerning buying and selling merchandise and being involved in marketing a product. Business involves planning how to market and sell your goods. God cares about our business endeavors. But He wants us to see the importance of not boasting about our work. James…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"advanced_seo_description":"","jetpack_seo_html_title":"","jetpack_seo_noindex":false,"jetpack_seo_schema_type":"","footnotes":"","jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[27],"tags":[1328],"class_list":["post-57269","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-article","tag-plans"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":81578,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/every-good-and-perfect-gift\/","url_meta":{"origin":57269,"position":0},"title":"Every Good and Perfect Gift","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"December 12, 2024","format":false,"excerpt":"by Terry Wane Benton When we contemplate buying gifts to give, we generally want them to be good gifts and fitted to the needs and desires of the person we are trying to honor. It is the same with God. God knows how to give good gifts, perfect gifts, to\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Article"","block_context":{"text":"Article","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/article\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":90239,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/god-and-good\/","url_meta":{"origin":57269,"position":1},"title":"God and Good","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"September 8, 2025","format":false,"excerpt":"by Terry Wane Benton Have you ever noticed how the book of Genesis begins and ends? It begins with God creating everything and \"it was good\" (Genesis 1). After man chose to let sin in the world, it was cursed (Genesis 3). But God wanted to get back to \"blessed\"\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Article"","block_context":{"text":"Article","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/article\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":56433,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/give-thanks\/","url_meta":{"origin":57269,"position":2},"title":"Give Thanks!","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"November 30, 2006","format":false,"excerpt":"by Daniel L. Holloway via\u00a0Guardian of Truth XXVIII: 3, p. 77, February 2, 1984 These days, we hear much about our country's economic woes. And we do not have to look far to find that society is beset with plenty of other problems. Of course, each individual has his own\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Answer"","block_context":{"text":"Answer","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/answer\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":32895,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/james-on-trials\/","url_meta":{"origin":57269,"position":3},"title":"James on Trials","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"December 10, 2017","format":false,"excerpt":"by Jeffrey W. Hamilton Text: James 1:1-27 \u00a0 I.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0The book of James is written to Jewish Christians who were scattered by persecution - Acts 8:1-4 \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0A.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0This is one indication that James is one of the first books written \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0B.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0It is that persecution that sets up the theme for the first\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Audio"","block_context":{"text":"Audio","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/audio\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":21574,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/the-sons-of-thunder\/","url_meta":{"origin":57269,"position":4},"title":"The Sons of Thunder","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"April 19, 2020","format":false,"excerpt":"Text: Mark 3:14-19 \u00a0 I.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0Often when we talk about the apostles, we focus on the notable Peter and Paul. \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0A.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0There are many things we can learn from their lives, but we also can learn from the examples of the other apostles as well. \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0B.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0Today I would like to direct your\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Audio"","block_context":{"text":"Audio","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/audio\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":82350,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/friendship-with-god-or-the-world\/","url_meta":{"origin":57269,"position":5},"title":"Friendship with God or the World","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"December 23, 2024","format":false,"excerpt":"by Doy Moyer True friendship is valued. 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