Now listen, you who say, “Today or tomorrow we will go to this or that city, spend a year there, carry on business and make money.” Why, you do not even know what will happen tomorrow. What is your life? You are a mist that appears for a little while and then vanishes. Instead, you ought to say, “If it is the Lord’s will, we will live and do this or that.” As it is, you boast in your arrogant schemes. All such boasting is evil. (James 4:13-16, NIV)
Masters Eve.
Sorry, somebody had to say it. Those words produce an ache this time around. There will be no ceremonial tee shots tomorrow morning, no runs up and down the leaderboard, and no patrons seizing upon pimento cheese sandwiches on their way to staking out a place among the azaleas, the dogwoods, the loblollies. As golf fans, all we can do is wait. This is no time to assemble the masses and let their roars roll through the trees.
The trouble with waiting—almost always—is that this is not what we had planned. You were perhaps thinking ahead to this Sunday—of a sunrise worship service, a yummy brunch, time with your family, and those hours in front of the TV, watching your favorites try to secure the green jacket.
Tens of thousands of others were thinking the same thing with you. Eagerly. Delightedly. Arrogantly.
When James condemned boasting, he wasn’t talking about the braggarts and the blowhards. He was talking about me and probably you.Sorry, somebody had to say it. But if pride is evident anywhere, it is in our plans. We speak so certainly of the days to come, when we know so little of them, when they are in the hands of God.
Step back and consider where we are today. An arrogant government in one country downplayed the severity of what was happening among its people—and exposed the world to death. Arrogant governments in other countries downplayed the severity of what was coming to their people—and found themselves desperately ill-prepared when it came.
Pride really is our enemy. Globally. Communally. Individually. So even when the chips are all the way down, as they are now, we say things like, “We’ll get through this. And we’ll be stronger for it. And better.”
Will we? Only insomuch as humility supplants our pride.
Today’s Scripture passage is longer than usual, but you need to read it all. The whole context matters. When James condemned boasting, he wasn’t talking about the braggarts and the blowhards. He was talking about me and probably you—everyday people saying everyday things as if we ran our own little solar systems, where things revolve around us. They don’t. We’re no big sun in the sky. Once we figure that out, we can live like we’re supposed to, opening our eyes each morning with gratitude and saying, “Lord Jesus, what do you have for me today? I want my day to follow the course of your will.”
—
Jeff Hopper
April 8, 2020
Copyright 2020 Links Players International
The Links Daily Devotional appears Monday-Friday at www.linksplayers.com.
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