Keep your lives free from the love of money and be content with what you have. (Heb. 13:5)

“Just write a check, Daddy,” my sister said. Money was tight, and our parents were in a financial juggling match. My sister saw the obvious solution they seemed to be overlooking. Get that checkbook out and pay the bill.

Hebrews 13:5–6 is not a promise of financial security. Christians through the years have suffered abuse, hunger, homelessness, and death. The core of this verse is speaking to the desire of one’s heart. It is speaking of cheating or taking advantage of another to get that prized speck of perceived quality. It addresses thinking foremost of financial gain when one takes a job. Or, the clutching tightly to a bargain, oblivious to the fairness of the deal. It is speaking to the miserliness of grasping that single last penny without a thought of the hardships of others.

When our heart craves money so that all else falls out of view, we are not content. When every decision is based on the dollar, our eyes have shifted from the One who is with us through it all—the pay raise, the lost job, the double-crosser’s deal, the new home, the lost fortune. By faith, we can learn to live contentedly through all situations.

So, when in want, plunge into God’s character. When you have enough, be grateful. When you have a surplus, just write a check for those in need.

Focus on Christ to keep material things in perspective.

Gena Duncan teaches Bible classes in her church. She and her husband spend summers in Fort Wayne, Indiana, and winters in Naples, Florida.

© 2019 Wesleyan Publishing House. Reprinted from Light from the Word. Used by permission.
Scriptures taken from the Holy Bible, New International Version®, NIV®.