James 4:13-17; ; James 5:1-6
Those who make selfish plans (vv. 3-15; Isaiah 56:12) and those who accumulate earthly wealth (5:1-6) are often the same people (Luke 12:18-19). Both are strangers to the life of faith. To plan for the future, without reference to God, is to substitute one’s own will for the will of God. It amounts even to unbelief – a demonstration that we do not believe in the Lord’s imminent return. It is particularly foolish to trust in amassing wealth in "the last days". The uncertain future of earthly riches: loss, theft, devaluation . . . all serve to show that they are corruptible riches, cankered gold and silver (see Psalms 52:7). That is why the Lord commands: "provide yourselves bags which wax not old, a treasure in the heavens that faileth not, where no thief approacheth, neither moth corrupteth" (Luke 12:33). The enjoyment of material goods may contribute to hardening of the heart – firstly, towards God, for thereby we lose the feeling of dependence upon Him and the sense of the true necessities, those of the soul (Revelation 3:17); secondly, towards our neighbour, because it is then more difficult to put ourselves in the place of those who are in any need (Proverbs 18:23).