James 5:7-12

Verse 12 was huge for me in high school.  I memorized it so that I would not swear anymore.  I didn’t read the rest of the verses.  James isn’t speaking here of swearing in the sense of “cursing” – four-letter-words, but instead is pulling from the last chapter and suggesting that we aren’t supposed to say, “I swear I will do that” – because we don’t know what God has in store!  Let me explain: a few years ago I read a book called Understanding God’s Will by Kyle Lake.  In this book, he does a great job in describing how some are crippled by trying to figure out the will of God and he proves the point that those that are obedient to God and are trying to live for Him are following the will of God.  Instead of a “soul mate” – work hard on marriage and it will work, etc.  He was talking about raising his kids and having the uncertainty of whether he would be there for it or not.  The problem is – he had died earlier in the year that I chose to read the book.  The Lord took him home.  He died tragically – in his early thirties – and now isn’t there for his kids.  Crazy, yes, but this is why we must live for God today, right now.  We can’t “swear” that we will do anything – because we don’t know the master plan.  We also can’t lose faith or sight of what is important because God works in everything – like through the life of Job.  Thank you, James for reminding us!