Life A Mist?

James (4:13-17)

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. If anyone, then, knows the good they ought to do and doesn't do it, it is sin for them. 

Life? "A mist,"answers James. Although we give the appearance of security, our lives are marked by uncertainty, adversity, brevity. All the more reason to gain perspective on how to live it. Walking with God gives perspective. It doesn't guarantee we'll live longer, but it does help us to live better. And deeper. And broader. Because you know nothing about the day, week, month or year before you, commit yourself anew to Him who knows the times and the seasons. 

Have you noticed how many day-planners are available these days? And then there are the time-management self-help books: how to increase your efficiency, how to make every moment count, how to invest your time wisely and productively. While all those voices and handy products scream for your attention, I'd like to play devil's advocate and tell you how to waste your time. Five proven ideas come immediately to mind: 

First, worry a lot. Start worrying early in the morning and intensify your anxiety as the day passes. Worry about your own failures and mistakes--about what you should or could have done but didn't. To add variety, worry about things you should not have done but did. Hanging around negative people is another secret you won't want to forget. Remember: 

Potential ulcers need fresh acid. Second, make hard-and-fast predictions. Of course, you'll need to ignore that little throwaway line in the fourth chapter of James: "you do not know what your life will be like tomorrow." But forget that comment and set your expectations in motion. Be as specific as you can. For example, one month before his July 1975 disappearance, Jimmy Hoffa announced:

"I don't need bodyguards."Third, fix your attention on getting rich. You'll get a lot of innovative ideas from the secular bookshelves (I counted a multitude of books on the subject last time I was in a book store) plus you'll fit right in with most of the hype that's pouring out of entrepreneurial seminars and high-pressure sales meetings. Fourth, compare yourself with others. Not only will you ricochet between the extremes of arrogance and discouragement, you will also spend the time not knowing who you are.

Fifth, lengthen your list of enemies. If there's one thing above all others that will keep your wheels spinning, it's perfecting your skill at the Blame Game. With a full arsenal of suspicion, paranoia, and resentment, you can waste endless evenings stewing over those folks who have made your life miserable. Put these five surefire suggestions in motion, and you can forget about all the hassles connected with being happy, efficient, productive, and contented. Within a couple of months, those things won't even be on your agenda. All this sounds like foolish exaggeration, doesn't it? But just stop and think: How much time are you already wasting on some of these things?

Reverend William Bowers