Verse of the Day Devotion: Hebrews 13:5
“Make sure that your character is free from the love of money, being content with what you have; for He Himself has said, “I WILL NEVER DESERT YOU, NOR WILL I EVER FORSAKE YOU,” – Hebrews 13:5
One of the things we must always remember, being God’s children, is that we have all we need. Paul says it this way. “And my God will supply all your needs according to His riches in glory in Christ Jesus.” Philippians 4:19. We have nothing to worry about in this context, for He will work on our behalf to provide our needs. However, we must realize what our needs truly are. Too many people look at their wants and make them needs. Jesus lays out what our needs are in His Sermon on the Mount. “For this reason I say to you, do not be worried about your life, as to what you will eat or what you will drink; nor for your body, as to what you will put on. Is not life more than food, and the body more than clothing?” Matthew 6:25. These are our basic needs; food, drink, and clothing.
The writer of Hebrews here is telling us that we must remain free from the love of money. He is telling us that we must be content with what we have, not desiring more money so we can get more things. We should be satisfied with having what we have so that we can be at peace and available to do the work of God. And it is necessary based on a couple of verses prior to our focus verse. “Do not neglect to show hospitality to strangers, for by this some have entertained angels without knowing it. Remember the prisoners, as though in prison with them, and those who are ill-treated, since you yourselves also are in the body.” Hebrews 13:2-3. There are many Christians who are struggling in life. Now, Paul said in Philippians 4:19 (see above) that God will supply all our needs. However, He may choose to supply these needs for another through us. If He provides abundantly for us, maybe it is to meet ours and another’s needs as well. I want to say though there is nothing wrong with getting some things that we want. But we cannot desire so much that we begin to love things more than God and others.
Paul, in his first letter to Timothy, wrote the following. “For the love of money is a root of all sorts of evil, and some by longing for it have wandered away from the faith and pierced themselves with many griefs.” 1 Timothy 6:10. Paul is not saying that money itself is the problem, but it is the love of it that is the issue. One of these evils can be, and many times is, the neglect of His people who are in need so that our wants are satisfied. Again, I am not saying that getting what we want is wrong. It is putting these wants ahead of what God deems as more important. Just as money is not bad, but the love of it can lead to many forms of evil.
Therefore, the important idea here in our focus verse is that we should not put money ahead of what God desires us to do. And secondly, we should not put money ahead of God when it comes providing for our needs. And lastly, we should not put money ahead of meeting the basic needs of others. There is nothing wrong with money, but it is the position it holds in our lives that can be the issue. We must not trust anything other than God Almighty to meet our needs. He has promised so many times throughout the scriptures that He will not forsake us. God can and will use the things we have to meet our needs. But we must not come to the point where we think money will supply all our needs, and thus placing it in a position where we rely on it for everything. It is not money that meets our needs, but it is God who does. He loves us beyond our greatest understanding, and He is the only person and thing we should rely on to meet our every need.
William Funkhouser MDiv, ThD, Founder and President of True Devotion Ministries.