Most Read Bible Verses---#34---Hebrews 13:5

                                                     

Hebrews 13:5 (NIV)

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.” 

This is a wonderful verse.  Note the three profound truths in it—(1) Keep your life free from the love of money; (2) Be content with what you have; and (3) God will never leave or forsake you.  Let your mind dwell a few minutes on these truths.

I love having money.  Don’t you?  Especially if you are struggling financially, dealing with job loss, salary or benefit cutbacks, too much debt, wondering how you’re going to be able to afford your children’s education, and other uncertainties about your financial future, don’t you love the thought of having money?  We love to have enough money to go places, to buy gifts, to give to others, and, yes, to buy nice things.  Are we being disobedient to the word of God about loving to have money?

Well, it depends on what having money motivates a person to do.  It depends on how much priority a person gives to the making and spending of money. Money seems to bring out what a person’s deepest motives are.  Money might make one person do very good things and another to do very bad things. 

The Bible condemns the love of money (this verse, also I Timothy 6:10 and Luke 16:13) when it takes priority over your life above everything else.  To make good money is important so that you have certain freedoms and can take care of your family and give to your church, but when the making of money takes priority over serving God and others, it is wrong.  When you think about money more than you think about God and family, you are succumbing to the Biblical view that money is the source of all sorts of evil.

This is especially difficult to accept in these harsh financial times where not having enough money affects your outlook on everything and can consume much of your thought life.  However, don’t allow yourself to be so consumed with money and the making of it that this pursuit overwhelms everything else in your life.  It can be viewed that the current world financial crisis has curtailed the pursuit of excess and is working to bring people back to a saner and better life situation.  Perhaps the Lord is using this current economic crisis to positively affect your life because you now see a renewed dependency on Him rather than on yourself.   

 

Keep your priorities focused on the Lord and His ways. Re-read the truths of this passage—keeping your life free from the love of money and being content with what you have is possible and, indeed, honored by the Lord as He promises never to leave you nor forsake you.  Think about how much richer you will feel if you know that you have what money cannot buy—the presence, protection, and peace of mind and heart from the Lord.