Lesson 27: Playing God (part 2)
Read James 4:11-17 - www.bible.com/bible/59/jas.4.esv

James 4:13 shows us how we play God with ourselves.
- Selfishly choose your own time and schedule.
- Select the location that pleases you.
- Limit your stay to please yourself.
- Arrange your activities so they will work for your benefit and pleasure.
- Predict your profit and boast about it.

James is not criticizing planning or suggesting messy organization. We know from other Scriptures (Ephesians 5:15-16, Proverbs 18:9) that God encourages wise planning. But our plans are to be made according to His will recognizing His sovereignty over our lives. Then what is James attacking? The kind of thinking that presumptuously plans as though God did not exist.

James’ evaluation – James 4:14 – Reasons why we cannot win by playing this game:
- Tomorrow’s circumstances are totally uncertain - death, illness, job loss, and more.
- We have no assurance of a long life - Psalm 90:3-6, 10.
- We have no right to ignore God’s will - James 4:15. It is the height of arrogance to disregard God as the master of our fate - Psalm 14:1.

James knows that some will play God instead of humbly submitting, so he issues this warning in James 4:16 - But now you rejoice in your boastings: all such rejoicing is evil. All the reasons against playing this game are summed up in one word, “evil.”

Quitting the game won’t be easy, but for those who want to, James leaves 2 simple rules in James 4:17 – “Therefore to him that knows to do good, and does not do it, to him it is sin.”


Rule 1 – You must know the right thing to do.
Rule 2 – You must start doing the right thing.

And one final important note that God gives us is…Do what you know is right. Don’t withhold it (verse 17) - see Proverbs 3:27-28. Most of the time when we make bad choices we know beforehand that they are bad, these are the ‘sins of commission.’ But this is knowing that you should do the right thing and just not doing it. This is what we call the ‘sin of omission.’ And many are guilty of this!

- When you know someone needs a word of encouragement and you withhold it…
- When you know you’re wrong about something yet you won’t apologize for it…
- When you know a situation is wrong yet you withhold the information that will correct it…
- When you withhold truth that would help someone…
- When you know someone needs forgiveness yet you won’t give it…

*Thought question: How do you play God with yourself? ____