Daily Devotional: Do Not Boast About Tomorrow

There was a time when I used to plan ahead about things, be it a trip to the store or moving to a new apartment, unaware that, to God, this was an arrogant attitude.And then one day I read the following Scriptures:"Come now, 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'; whereas 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. Instead you ought to say, 'If the Lord wills, we shall live and do this or that.' But now you boast in your arrogance. All such boasting is evil. Therefore, to him who knows to do good and does not do it, to him it is sin." (James 4:13-17)Now after I read this I felt a deep shame and repented of it immediately. I made a mental effort to amend what I said whenever I thought of "planning ahead" and to remember the words of Paul in Acts 18:21: "...but I will return again to you, God willing."So now when I think of something I'm going to do beyond today I end it by saying, "...Lord willing." Keeping in mind that God is in control of every moment of my life and to presume otherwise, even in thoughts or words, is a not only arrogant and disrespectful, but also a sin.Amen.