‘Come now, you who say, “Today or tomorrow we will go into this city, and spend a year there, and trade, and make ourselves gains”, whereas you do not know what will be on the morrow.'
‘Come now.' This is the first of two ‘come now's which introduce two scenarios, both of which are intended to make them face up to serious facts. The first of these reveals the frailty of businessmen whose main concern is monetary gain, in view of the fact that how long they go on living is in God's hands, and the second reveals the frailty of businessmen's riches, and the fact that God knows how they are behaving. What they should therefore rather be doing is concentrating on doing what they know to be right (James 4:17).
This first case is of those who are so sure of how their lives will turn out that they make plans accordingly. They say, “Today or tomorrow we will go into this city, and spend a year there, and trade, and gain wealth”. James would appear to have a special concern for those who travelled around and had no settled church home. It was easy for such men to lose touch with their faith. But they also provided a lesson for all.
Notice their arrogance as far as God is concerned. They believe that they can regulate their time as they wish (‘today or tomorrow'). They believe that they can choose their destination (‘into this city'). They believe that they have all the time in the world (‘spend a year there'). And they believe that they can do what they want without regard to God's requirements (‘trade and gain wealth'), whereas what they should be doing is recognise the frailty of their lives, and that what they will be able to participate in depends totally on the will of God, thus recognising that the most important thing that they should do is what is good (James 4:17). They should therefore ask themselves, ‘what is His will?' But they do not do so. They forget that they are mortal, and the result is that they have big ideas about themselves. They forget the words of Proverbs 27:1, ‘do not boast yourself of tomorrow, for you do not know what a day may bring forth'. Compare also the rich fool who forgot that ‘tomorrow we die' (Luke 12:16-21). That is why they think that they can judge their neighbour (James 4:12 b). It is also why they think that they can run their own lives just as they please (James 4:13-14). But they are wrong on both counts. ‘What is your life? For you are a vapour, which appears for a little time, and then vanishes away.'
For what they should remember is what their lives are. They are not substantial. They are rather like a puff of smoke which appears for a short while and then disappears. They are like an early morning mist that soon clears away (Hosea 13:3). For life is brief, and in the midst of life we are in death. So in view of that it is in this light that they should measure how they ought to live, both with regard to judging others (in the face of the fact that we might ourselves face judgment at any time), and with regard to doing good (James 4:17). It is in this light that they should determine what they (or rather God) consider to be important. And if they truly recognise that their lives might disintegrate like a puff of smoke at any moment, they will undoubtedly put more consideration into looking at the things that are unseen, and building up treasure in Heaven (Matthew 6:17-18), for they will recognise that the things that are seen are temporal, and will soon pass away, while the things that are unseen are eternal (2 Corinthians 4:18).