The world around has been telling us that if we do the “right” steps–and they usually exclude knowing the will of God–then we can do whatever we want and we can be whatever we choose to become.  But in our Scripture text today, there is a reminder to remember, an advice to prize, and a warning that can sting if we don’t heed it.

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The reminder:

¹³ Now listen, you who say, “Today or tomorrow we will go to this or that city, spend a year there, carry on business and make money.” ¹⁴ Why, you do not even know what will happen tomorrow. What is your life? You are a mist that appears for a little while and then vanishes.

 

.The advice:

¹⁵ Instead, you ought to say, “If it is the Lord’s will, we will live and do this or that.”

 

And the warning:

¹⁶ As it is, you boast in your arrogant schemes. All such boasting is evil. ¹⁷ If anyone, then, knows the good they ought to do and doesn’t do it, it is sin for them.

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Remember the reminder, prize the advice, and heed the warning to avoid its sting.