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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.”

When we have plenty, the danger is that we trust our bank balance and not in the Lord. Nevertheless, it is possible to win the battle against materialism, when we reckon on the reality of God and the faithfulness of His promises. When we truly recognise that God is with us, and God is enough, we can face all of life with confidence.

Reflecting on this earlier this morning, I was reminded of men such as George Mueller and Hudson Taylor. They came to truly rely on the promises of God and they experienced His miraculous provision. Mueller once said,

“Every child of God is not called by the Lord to establish schools and orphan houses and to trust in the Lord for means for them. Yet, there is no reason why you may not experience, far more abundantly than we do now, His willingness to answer the prayers of His children.”

PRAYER: Thank you Lord for our many blessings. We do not deserve a single one. Help us to trust wholly in you and not lean on our own resources.

Keep your lives free from the love of money and be content with what you have…

This is something we have to do: i.e. ”keep” our lives free from money-love and maintain them in contented freedom. We have to be intentional about it.

It is necessary because ‘the world’ is all pervasive. It is all around us; in the very atmosphere we breathe:

”Do not love the world or anything in the world. If anyone loves the world, love for the Father is not in them. ¹⁶ For everything in the world—the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life—comes not from the Father but from the world. ¹⁷ The world and its desires pass away, but whoever does the will of God lives forever.” 1 John 3:15-17.

Someone described ‘the world’ (in its New Testament negative connotation) as ‘society organised without reference to God’, and all the standards, values, ideals, longings, desires, philosophies etc. of that world system are constantly being ‘marketed’ to us. If we do not take definite steps to keep ourselves back from the water’s edge we will likely be overwhelmed by the tide.

One way to keep a contented heart, in a world that is always greedy for more (and telling you that you need more), is to intentionally and specifically, and regularly, give thanks for your blessings.

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.”

 ”Water is useful to the ship and helps it to sail better to the haven, but let the water get into the ship, if it is not pumped out, it drowns the ship. So riches are useful and convenient for our passage. We sail more comfortably with them through the troubles of this world; but if the water gets into the ship, if love of riches gets into the heart, then we are drowned by them.” Thomas Watson.

We are not to imagine that there is necessarily any virtue in poverty or any evil in wealth. What we have to watch out for, and nip in the bud, is an indication of ”the love of money” growing inside of us. 1 Timothy 6:10 says:

” For the love of money is a root of all kinds of evil. Some people, eager for money, have wandered from the faith and pierced themselves with many griefs.”

The love of money can lead a person deeper and deeper into sin(s): theft, deceit, fraud, murder, arrogance and pride, to name just a few. It is a form of idolatry. Again, Tom Hale expresses this well. He writes about:

‘…money, which first enslaves people and then laughs at them as it fails to provide the happiness it promised. Not that poverty by itself brings happiness, either; let’s not have any romantic notions about that. But the love of money is the thing to beware of. When you love something or someone, you make sacrifices for them. When you find yourself making a sacrifice of something else in your life, simply so that you can follow where money is beckoning you, regard that as a danger signal.’ ‘Hebrews for everyone’, pp.170, 171.

Paul wrote that:

”…godliness with contentment is great gain” 1 Tim.6:6.

Writing to the church in Philippi he also said:

”…for I have learned to be content whatever the circumstances. I know what it is to be in need, and I know what it is to have plenty. I have learned the secret of being content in any and every situation, whether well fed or hungry, whether living in plenty or in want. I can do all this through him who gives me strength.” Phil.4:11b-13.

I infer from this that learning to be content is a process, and that times of prosperity do not necessarily lead to contentment. How we need God’s strength to live as we should in whatever circumstance of life we find ourselves.

The call to contentment, in a life free of the love of money, is based upon God’s Word. Whatever He commands, He also enables. Thanks be to God.

Honour marriage, and guard the sacredness of sexual intimacy between wife and husband. God draws a firm line against casual and illicit sex. The Message.

Here is a further comment on this verse from Tom Wright, a former Bishop of Durham:

‘Then come two rules of thumb about the perennial storm centres, sex and money. Marriage is to be respected and honoured by all, and nobody must try to break into the sexual union of husband and wife. The pagan world of the first century was every bit as sexually promiscuous as the Western world of the twenty-first century, and Christians are called today, as they were then, to stand out, to be deeply counter-cultural, at this point. The writer warns that God will judge those who flout his intention for the gift of sex, using it as a plaything rather than the deep, rich, satisfying bond between husband and wife that it was meant to be. This judgment will not necessarily be confined to the life to come. In fact, as thousands of novels, plays and poems bear witness, it is all too frequent that those who degrade themselves and other people by indulging in sex outside its proper context carry bitter regrets and long-lasting emotional scars.’

Marriage should be honoured by all, and the marriage bed kept pure, for God will judge the adulterer and all the sexually immoral. 

‘For best results follow the Maker’s instructions!’

I saw these words on a poster many years ago.

Marriage comes with ‘the Maker’s Instructions’. But increasingly, the human race baulks at these instructions. In fact, many deny that there is a Maker or that there are any instructions. ‘Just be yourself’, they say. ‘Live as you please.’ Of course, if everyone does so, without regard for others, there will simply be anarchy and chaos. Like them or not, instructions are issued for a reason.

Then there are those among us who want to ‘have their cake and eat it.’ They still believe in the Maker, they claim, and some would contend they worship Him. But they think He is wrong, and they are therefore re-writing His standards for the modern world. They want to keep Him relevant.

May God have mercy on us all. There is something of the rebel in all of us – even as we, by grace, seek to die to sin and live to God. We know how repeatedly the flesh wants to have its own way; how reticent it is to put out ‘the white flag’.

Romans 1 graphically describes what happens to a culture that rebels against God, and chooses its own path. Funnily enough, it reads like the latest newspaper.

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.

Tom Wright says:

‘The writer turns to the darker side of early Christian experience. Prison has been a feature of Christian life from the earliest days. Those at present enjoying freedom must regularly think of, pray for and find ways of helping those who are in prison…But the writer would certainly not have excluded the wider work of caring for those in prison in the modern world, where locking people up is used far more often as a straightforward punishment than it was in the ancient world. There people were often executed, fined or banished for crimes both serious and not so serious.’ ‘Hebrews for Everyone’, pp.169,170.

But I also remember a church secretary in Leeds, not a young man himself, who felt a solemn call to visit elderly, shut-in people from the church. He didn’t drive, but criss-crossed the city on the bus. Jesus said, ”I was in prison and you visited me’, he told me, ‘and there are many people who are prisoners in their own homes.’

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.

It is a dangerous thing to be a Christian. For most of the time, here in the western world, we don’t really feel this. We may recognise it intellectually, but we don’t live under a sense of day to day threat. Any ‘persecution’ we experience tends to be at a low level. We might experience scorn and ridicule, but it is rare for it to go much beyond that. Nevertheless, ‘the times they are a-changin’, and who can say what the future may hold?

All of that said, many of our brothers and sisters around the world, face daily the prospect (or the reality) of imprisonment for their faith – or worse. They know much of violence, loss and constant risk.

Our situation is abnormal. The freedom we enjoy would be almost unimaginable to millions of our fellow Christians.

May we never forget this. May we never forget them.

PRAYER: Lord, help us to keep our suffering brethren in our hearts and prayers. Strengthen us to suffer shame for the cause of Christ, and to persevere in faith whatever may come our way in the days ahead.

 Keep on loving each other as brothers and sisters. ² Don’t forget to show hospitality to strangers, for some who have done this have entertained angels without realizing it! (New Living Translation).

Just a further thought on the subject of hospitality.

If you come across people who have the gift of hospitality, you might be over-awed and conclude that you should leave this stuff to those who are better equipped. But as I understand the Bible, it seems to me that all Christians are called to be hospitable whether or not they have the hospitality gift.

I remember hearing a friend lead a Bible Study on Romans 12. Ironically he and his wife had this gift to a marked degree. But speaking about verse 13b: ”Practice hospitality”, he encouraged everyone by saying, ‘You don’t necessarily have to provide a slap-up meal. It can be a cup of tea and a piece of cake. Just open your home and welcome people in.’ I believe that is the gist of what he said.

It may indeed be that uncomplicated.

Amazing things can happen when we open our doors to others, along with our hearts. But I think the opening of the heart comes first?

Keep on loving one another as brothers and sisters. ² Do not forget to show hospitality to strangers, for by so doing some people have shown hospitality to angels without knowing it. 

Loving shows itself in practical ways: none more so than the sharing of hospitality.

‘The family (in other words, the Christian brothers and sisters) must continue to care for one another in practical ways. Mutual affection is vital; financial help for those in need is vital; the word used in verse 1 includes both. And the hospitality which so marked the early Christian community must be extended wherever possible, with the fascinating promise that in opening your front door you never know when an angel is going to walk in. It happened to Abraham in Genesis 18; it can happen to you.’ Tom Wright: ‘Hebrews for Everyone’, p.169.

Jesus, of course, reminded us, that when we receive strangers we receive Him (Mt.25:31-40).

Hospitality was important in the earliest days of the church, when they had no formal buildings for worship and met in homes; and where food played an important part in their gatherings. No doubt they remembered the part played by shared meals in the life and ministry of the Lord Himself. Hospitality was also a way of caring for the poor among them, and helping those who suffered loss and privation because of their Christian profession. Additionally, the inns were notoriously immoral, unhygienic and expensive, and Christian travellers needed a safe and welcoming place to stay.

Hospitality will always be important. Perhaps, in the church today, we need to recover a sense of what rich fellowship we can share, what ‘electric’ spiritual encounters we can have, what discipling may be done, around a meal table? Perhaps we should focus less on spotlights and smoke machines and more on bread and wine??