James 4:14,15

Man's Future Depends Upon God

We do not know what awaits us even a few minutes ahead on life's road, so we should not make plans as if we controlled our own future. The wise man said, "Do not boast about tomorrow, for you do not know what a day may bring forth" (Proverbs 27:1). What kind of life do we have here on earth? By simple observation, we know it is not permanent. "And as it is appointed for men to die once, but after this the judgment" (Hebrews 9:27). James says our life is a vapor, or mist, or puff of smoke. Like the morning fog, it may seem to be permanent. Yet, it appears one minute and disappears the next (James 4:14).

All of our plans for the future should be made in the full realization that those plans depend upon God. Truthfully, our very existence is dependent upon God (James 4:15). On Mars Hill, Paul told about the Almighty. God, who made the world and everything in it, since He is Lord of heaven and earth, does not dwell in temples made with hands. Nor is He worshiped with men's hands, as though He needed anything, since He gives to all life, breath, and all things. And He has made from one blood every nation of men to dwell on all the face of the earth, and has determined their preappointed times and the boundaries of their habitation, so that they should seek the Lord, in the hope that they might grope for Him and find Him, though He is not far from each one of us; for in Him we live and move and have our being, as also some of your won poets have said, "For we are also His offspring" (Acts 17:24-28).