Stay away from the love of money; be satisfied with what you have. For God has said, “I will never fail you. I will never forsake you.” That is why we can say with confidence, “The Lord is my helper, so I will not be afraid. What can mere mortals do to me?” …Jesus Christ is the same yesterday, today and forever. So do not be attracted by strange, new ideas. Your spiritual strength comes from God’s special favor, not from ceremonial rules about food, which don’t help those who follow them.
Hebrews 13:5-6, 8-9Hebrews 13:5-6, 8-9
English: Contemporary English Version (1999) - CEV
5 Don't fall in love with money. Be satisfied with what you have. The Lord has promised that he will not leave us or desert us. 6 . That should make you feel like saying, “The Lord helps me! Why should I be afraid of what people can do to me?” 8 Jesus Christ never changes! He is the same yesterday, today, and forever. 9 Don't be fooled by any kind of strange teachings. It is better to receive strength from God's undeserved kindness than to depend on certain foods. After all, these foods don't really help the people who eat them.
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The book of Hebrews ends with a redirection. With all the competition for our attention, God knows we need a focal point; something stable when the world is dizzy and incoherent to us. The author has repeatedly pointed out Christ’s supremacy: the overwhelming glory of his very person, the exalted nature of his work – past, present and future. He has shared the deep compassion that God has for us in Jesus, and offered compelling examples of those who lived by what they knew to be true, though it was costly and they never experienced or saw the fruition. The evidence is there. We have every reason to trust.
Yet we don’t trust. We aren’t satisfied with what God offers. Our attention is on this present world, and God calls us to turn our gaze to himself, to Jesus, to eternity. Hebrews 13 redirects our attention from a number of things:
money
“Be satisfied with what you have.” You have the riches of God at your disposal, to spend in whatever fashion God desires. Whether little or much, we tend to get caught up in wanting more. God wants us caught up in generosity. He has displayed it, taught it, commanded it. And he now asks us to do it. Being satisfied assumes we don’t have all that we might want, or even think we need. But scripture repeats that we have God who will not fail or leave us. We have the thing most valuable.
people
It is not difficult to direct our attention to people.
Some we idolize, worshiping them for their skill, their personality, their beauty. We exchange God’s gift to us for self-doubt, complaints and jealousy. God calls us to activity, and we wallow in the dirt declaring our inability and unworthiness. We’re not satisfied with who God made us to be.
Others we fear, worrying they can harm us, or prevent us from whatever. To this the author of Hebrews offers a simple solution: “What can mere mortals do to me?” The Lord is with me!
ideas
We are big on ideas. There’s always a new imaginative twist. A new scheme, a better explanation, hidden knowledge. Don’t be too quick to believe every strange teaching, every new idea. Some of those ideas are tricks. They are clever deceptions. Christ doesn’t change, and we shouldn’t expect his message to change frequently. And often the new ideas are just the same old, disproven and worthless concepts that previous generations discarded. Humanity puts forward so many ideas, ways to extend life, make it simpler. But it seems getting us to stop and remember what God has already done is difficult. The writer of Hebrews points us back to God: “Your spiritual strength comes from God’s special favor…”
Our world teems with distractions, competing for our attention. God asks us to be satisfied with him. He has sacrificed everything to make us his own, to rescue us. He has promised us his presence. What are you putting your hopes in today other than Christ? A job or investment? A spouse or friend? A skill or a trait? This world is fleeting. The things of this world are temporary. Hopes based on Christ are the only ones that provide true and lasting satisfaction. That is where we find the confidence to stand firm through any trial that comes our way.
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