Daily Devotional October 12 - Life Is Like A Vapor

""Go to now, ye that say, today or tomorrow we will go into such a city, and continue there a year, and buy and sell, and get gain: Whereas ye know not what shall be on the morrow. For what is your life? It is even a vapour, that appeareth for a little time, and then vanisheth away." James 4:13-14

Pray before you move. Is it God guiding you to move here or there because He has a plan for your life, or is it that you think you will make a killing if you go to such and such a place? You can have both, but just to move to get gain is foolish. You might get rich. You might lose it all. But to move to get gain doesn't give God the honor nor does it follow the biblical prescription of bringing your plans to God for approval before setting out on a venture.

"Whereas ye know not what shall be on the morrow." A lot can happen in one day and we really don't know about tomorrow, but to go into tomorrow on our own fuel, so to speak, doesn't make sense to James and it doesn't make sense to me either. You need spiritual fuel and that comes from the Spirit of God. When God has been invited in to what you are doing, in advance, before you move for gain, you will get understanding. Whether things go right or if they go wrong, if you succeed or if you fail, there is understanding when God is involved. The Spirit of God communes with your Spirit to help you to get out of the experience necessary components that make a godly life.

James goes on to remind of us of the brevity of our life. A moment with God is better than a lifetime without. Life is short and God wants us to dispose our time wisely. Wisely is when we bring God into our situation early; early in the morning, early in the decision making process, early in the business start-up, early in the relationship, early in our decision to move. When you do this, you are inviting God to supernaturally intervene in your natural world. Time is spent wisely when you are following the lead of the Holy Spirit in your life/lifestyle. If my life is a vapor, when it is over, I want it to have left more behind than I took with me. I think that is what James is trying to tell us.