Read Exodus 9, Job 27, and Hebrews 13.
This devotional is about Hebrews 13.
This final chapter in the book of Hebrews gives specific commands to Christians. It teaches us how to live our our faith in Christ in the following ways:
- First, we live out our faith by loving other people (v. 1). Specifically, God commands us to love other believers (again, v. 1), love people we don’t t know who ask for our help (v. 2), and, love those who are being persecuted for Christ (v. 3).
- Second, Christians must honor marriage by living in sexual purity (v. 4),
- Third, our faith in Christ calls us to live without greed and materialism (vv. 5-6),
- Fourth, we must act properly toward the leaders of our church (vv. 7-17).
- Fifth, we should be praying for all those who are serving the Lord (vv. 18-19).
The book of Hebrews ends with a beautiful benediction prayed over the original readers of this book (vv. 20-21) and some final words of goodbye (vv. 22-25).
For this devotional, let’s focus on verses 5-6 which say, “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.’ 6 So we say with confidence, ‘The Lord is my helper; I will not be afraid. What can mere mortals do to me?'”
These verses tell us that God wants Christians to have a different attitude about material things than the world around us does (v. 5). It begins in verse 5a by calling us to not to love money. In my experience, very few people in our culture will admit to loving money. But we all need money to survive and to enjoy the life God has given to us on this earth. So the temptation to love money is ever-present for us and sometimes we give in to that temptation.
How do you know if you love money? Here are some things to think about:
- Are you are stingy about giving to the church? Do you give a small amount, a meager percentage of your income? Do you resent it when you do give to God’s work in the church? If so, you might love money.
- Is money the primary driver of decisions you make in life? Do you move to another area or another state just because you’re being offered more money? Do you change jobs just because the new job pays better or accept a promotion just because it pays more? If so, you might love money.
- Do you worry about losing it all?
After commanding us not to love money in verse 5a, the author of Hebrews tells us to “be content with what you have.” This is a command about materialism, which is the twin sister of loving money. Maybe you don’t care much about how much cash or investments you have, but you do care about having enough money and/or credit to buy things. How do you know if materialism has a hold on you? Here are some questions to consider:
- Are status objects important to you? That is, the make and model of your car, your watch, or the label on your designer clothes?
- Do you keep a list of what you want to buy next? Do you know that you want to buy a Boston Whaler, a more expensive car. or season tickets to your favorite sports team?
The antidote to loving money and materialism is faith in God. Verse 5b says, “…be content with what you have.” That’s a command to be satisfied with the income you have and the possessions you own. The command doesn’t mean you should never get a raise or a promotion that pays more. It also doesn’t mean that you can’t buy anything ever again. No, the command to “be content” is to be grateful for what you have rather than setting your heart on getting more–more income or more material things.
And why should we choose to be content? Verse 5c says we should be content because God has promised his presence with us forever. Verse 6 expands on God’s promise by saying that we need not fear because God is always there to help us.
When you are worried about money, discontent with your job and/or what it pays, or dreaming about something else to buy, remember that the love of money is dangerous to spiritual health. Instead of love for money, we should pray when we are worried or discontent. We should thank God for what he has given us and for how he has provided for our needs. We should also ask him to help us be content with what we have.
If you found yourself feeling convicted about anything I’ve talked about in this devotional, take some time to pray now and ask God to liberate you from the love of money and to help you be thankful for all he has provided for you.