DEO VOLENTE

JAMES 4:13–17

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

(James 4:15).

James 4:15 says that we should always have the attitude about our plans that we will do this or that “if the Lord wills.” In Latin, this phrase is Deo volente (day-oh vo-len-tay), “God willing.” There was a time in the history of the church that Christians were so conscious of this fact that they reminded themselves of it all the time by sprinkling this Latin phrase throughout their writings, letters, wills, contracts, and so forth. So common was the practice that often the initials of this phrase, D.V., were used as an abbreviation. In conversation, people would add “God willing” to their statements, as in “I’ll see you tomorrow, God willing.”

Of course, it is possible for such a phrase to become hackneyed and routine, but we have lost something by seldom using it at all. After all, we see Paul using this phrase in Acts 18:21, Romans 1:10, and 1 Corinthians 4:19. Even if we don’t say it aloud, we should always have Deo volente in the back of our minds.

James says that though we are the images of God, and thus precious to Him, yet in ourselves we are like mere vapors. It only takes the slightest breeze to blow our lives away. If we want our lives to have solidity and substance, we must commit ourselves and our hopes to the Lord, and to Him alone.

In verse 17, James adds a further thought to his discussion. He tells us that if we know what is right, and don’t do it, we sin. Now, in a larger sense, we sin against God even if we don’t know what He requires, but the Bible takes this into account, distinguishing between high-handed sins and sins of “inadvertency”—sins committed in some kind of state of ignorance.

James’s audience, however, consists of people who have a Jewish background, like church people today. They knew, and we know, that God is sovereign over all of life. They knew, and we should know, that all plans are at His disposal. They knew, and we must also know, that all our ways must be committed to Him, Deo volente. If we know this—and we do—and yet do not live in accordance to this knowledge, then our faith is hollow and vain. It is the false faith James has already criticized so eloquently in chapter 2 of his epistle.

CORAM DEO

Titus

WEEKEND

Hebrews 1–7

Take a ball point pen and write D.V. on the back of your right hand if you are right-handed, your left if you are left-handed. Throughout the day, when you see these initials, remember to commit your ways and your plans to God. Begin to cultivate a sense that all your endeavors are at His disposal.

For further study: Prov. 16:33 • Isa. 2:22; 14:24–27

WEEKEND