Peter Jennings, during the crisis in Lebanon, reported on a breach in a wall where one woman risked her life everyday from sniper fire because the only way to secure food for her family was to pass by that spot. In Jennings musings on this he said, “There are those who won’t do anything without the applause of people and then there are those who just do it because it needs to be done.”

We laugh at the jokes about procrastinators. I think sometimes it’s a nervous laugh because we know that we can wear that label well. The writer James addresses such issues. “Come now”. Have you ever tried to reason with someone who won’t be reasoned with?  “You who say, ‘today or tomorrow we will go to such and such a city, spend a year there, buy and sell, and make a profit'”(13). It sounds like they have a plan and are ready to work that plan. But are they? Does their intent lead to action?

“You do not know what will happen tomorrow. For what is your life? It is even a vapor that appears for a little time and then vanishes away” (14). The brevity of life and the uncertainties of our tomorrows faces us all. We think we have all this time ahead of us only to find it isn’t so.

James reminds us of the need for sober thought. “Instead we ought to say, ‘If the Lord wills, we shall live and do this or that'” (15). Truthfully we can plan out our lives but none of us know what will happen tomorrow. We may hope it goes this way but no guarantees. We can stick out our chest and with bravado say it is going to be this way but it is only empty boasting, centered in our human pride (16). You do not know what will happen but you can know that He holds your tomorrows.

So what is at the heart of what this passage is about? Is it wrong to plan our futures or lay out our dreams? The answer is no if we hold them with an open hand. So what is James’ problem? It really is summed up in verse 17, “Therefore to him who knows to do good and does not do it, to him it is sin”. Ah, the crux of the matter. Tomorrow we will do it. Tomorrow we will make enough money to help. Tomorrow. Get back to me tomorrow. I know that I will have it then. One sage has said that “tomorrow is often the busiest day of the week”. The refusal to help today James says is sin. Self-justify procrastination any way you want but it is still sin.

The writer of Proverbs is quite emphatic on this point. The soul of the sluggard craves and gets nothing, while the soul of the diligent is richly supplied. (13:4). Or the sluggard does not plow in the autumn; he will seek at harvest and have nothing (20:4).

I work in non-profit and I am amazed at the reasonings people use to justify their non-involvement in helping the poor. “It’s the government’s job”. “They are too lazy to work”. “The charities are thieves”. My response anymore is simply”whatever”. After all is said and done, more is said by them than done.

Then there are countless unknowns who will never be listed in the “Who’s Who” of society. They just simply do it because it needs to be done. No applause needed. No praise required.

Rather than curse the darkness why not light a candle and truly make a difference in the lives of others. Oh and procrastinators need not apply!

Blessings!