Keep on loving one another as brothers and sisters.
Do not forget to show hospitality to strangers, for by so doing some people have shown hospitality to angels without knowing it.
Continue to remember those in prison as if you were together with them in prison, and those who are mistreated as if you yourselves were suffering.
Marriage should be honored by all, and the marriage bed kept pure, for God will judge the adulterer and all the sexually immoral.
Keep your lives free from the love of money and be content with what you have, because God has said…
Hebrews 13:1-5
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Hebrews 13:5 contains a fascinating set of words. It begins like this:
“Keep your lives free from the love of money and be content with what you have, because God has said…”
Now, before you read on, I wonder how you might complete that sentence.
The exhortation is this: Don’t love money and be content with what you have.
To those who read the Bible, they will not find this encouragement unique. We can find it written in a number of places throughout Scripture in fact.
Of course, not only is this exhortation wise for Christian Living, it is required for any joyful living for any person of faith or nonfaith. There is simply no joy to be found in constantly desiring things you do not have. Joy is found in appreciating the blessings we already have around us.
So the first half of this verse is not surprising. “Don’t love money and be content with what you have.”
The exhortation continues, “Because God has said….”
If you were writing the Bible, how would you finish the verse?
What is it that God has said that might be the reason why we should not love money or live discontent? How would you complete the thought?
This is what I find so fascinating. The Holy Spirit finishes the sentence in a way that most of us would never guess:
“Keep your lives free from the love of money and be content with what you have, because God has said, ‘Never will I leave you; never will I forsake you.’”
“God will never leave us or forsake us.”
This is why we are not to love money and we are to be content with what we have!
How does that truth bring about the end result desired here?
There is an argument that could be made that this truth eliminates fear and worry. And that’s certainly true. Many of our motivations to accumulate wealth and possessions spring from insecurity. So the promise of God never leaving us is reassuring.
But there is another reason this truth brings about the desired end result.
If we already have God, what end goal are we hoping money and/or possessions will bring us?
If the Giver of all hope and joy is already living inside us and alongside us, what more could money and/or possessions add? It certainly can’t bring us more joy. It can’t bring us more hope. It can’t bring us more purpose or fulfillment or security.
The God of all Creation has already provided everything we need! And the offerings of this world are only a cheap substitute. The joy found in appreciating the blessings we already have far outweighs anything we don’t.
How do we avoid loving money? How do we experience more contentment?
We remember that the God who created us and loves us will NEVER leave us and NEVER forsake us. He already offers daily and sufficiently all we need for life and godliness.
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Prayer
Heavenly Father, thank you for the amazing promise and gift that you will never leave me or forsake me. You are so worthy of my praise and life. May I live every day and make every decision focused on that truth. Amen.