Be Still And Know

James 4:13-14 James’ readers would have immediately understood his description of the eager business person. At the time, markets were opening up all around the Mediterranean and Middle Eastern countries. There were endless opportunities to set up new businesses and James isn’t objecting either to business or the making of profit. His problem was that individuals had forgotten how temporary their life was. They were acting as if they were in full control of the future, and they weren’t. These verses remind us of Jesus’ parable about the rich man whose farm was doing so well that he needed to build bigger barns. The man smugly concluded that he could now sit back and say to himself: “My friend, you have enough stored away for years to come. Now take it easy! Eat, drink and be merry!” But God called him a fool because he hadn’t taken into account that he could die that very night (see Luke 12:19-20). God doesn’t want us to live in a state of daily anxiety because of the fragility and brevity of lif