13 Look here, you who say, “Today or tomorrow we are going to a certain town and will stay there a year. We will do business there and make a profit.” 14-17 How do you know what your life will be like tomorrow? Your life is like the morning fog- it’s here a little while, then it’s gone. What you ought to say is, “If the Lord wants us to, we will live and do this or that.” Otherwise you are boasting about your own pretentious plans, and all such boasting is evil. Remember, it is sin to know what you ought to do and then not do it.

5 vs 1-3  Look here, you rich people: Weep and groan with anguish because of all the terrible troubles ahead of you. Your wealth is rotting away, and your fine clothes are moth-eaten rags.  Your gold and silver are corroded. The very wealth you were counting on will eat away your flesh like fire. This corroded treasure you have hoarded will testify against you on the day of judgment.  4-6 For listen! Hear the cries of the field workers whom you have cheated of their pay. The cries of those who harvest your fields have reached the ears of the Lord of Heaven’s Armies. You have spent your years on earth in luxury, satisfying your every desire. You have fattened yourselves for the day of slaughter. You have condemned and killed innocent people, who do not resist you.

7-8 Dear brothers and sisters, be patient as you wait for the Lord’s return. Consider the farmers who patiently wait for the rains in the fall and in the spring. They eagerly look for the valuable harvest to ripen. You, too, must be patient. Take courage, for the coming of the Lord is near. James 4:13-5:8 New Living Translation paraphrase (English Standard Version link)

As well as writing to Christians it looks to me that James also had words for those who were still very much in the world and it's ways. Perhaps some of them even came to the Christian meetings, but without any change in their lifestyle. That's happened in Churches through the centuries. People (usually wealthy ones or landowners) even rose to prominent positions in Churches, but were never truly converted. What is one of the danger signs? (vs 13-16)

Even in James' day there were business people accustomed to being the boss and calling the shots. They were full of self confidence and plans to expand their wealth. What James says is similar to the story Jesus told of a man who had a bumper harvest and built some bigger barns, and said to himself: “I've enough stored away for years to come so I can take it easy and eat, drink, and be merry!”’ But God said to the man: “You fool! This very night your life will be demanded from you - then who will get what you have prepared for yourself?” And Jesus added: “This is how it will be with whoever stores up things for themselves - but is not rich towards God.” (Luke 12:15-21) That's the danger of wealth - even for Christians. It can make us arrogant and forget that our life (and our soul) is in God's hands and dependent on Him'.

The story Jesus told is just as important for the people James describes in vs 1-6 of Chapter 5. What sort of people were they?

I'm sure that, even in those days, not all rich people were guilty of all the things he said. There are rich people (even non-Christians) who have used their wealth generously. But the sort of people James spoke of certainly existed then as they do now. They're the people who give capitalism a bad reputation. They exploit people and indulge themselves with pleasures and luxuries. Sadly, many of those exploited in James' day would have been Christians. I suspect that's why James says what he does in 7-8.

It's easy for a hard working honest Christian to become discouraged when he or she sees wicked people exploiting every one else and, seemingly, getting away with it. But James echoes Jesus' words when he says that there WILL be a day of reckoning. And for Christians, that day will be a day when they joyfully enter into the true riches of eternal life in the presence of their God and Saviour. Don’t let the rat race get you down. Be patient; press on in serving Jesus; your reward in heaven is far greater than today’s riches!