Let your conversation be without covetousness; and be content with such things as ye have, for He hath said, I will never leave thee, nor forsake thee. Hebrews 13:5
We noticed an unusual long-handled device in the clearance bin at the electronics store, and tried to figure out what it was. It had no identifying tag, so we gave up until a store clerk noticed our confusion and smiled. It was a device for extending a cell phone to take a selfie, she told us. We thanked her and placed the device back into the bin. Taking selfies is rather low on our list of priorities. In fact, I personally dislike the word; it sounds too much like the word ‘selfish’, and carries much of the same meaning. A device to help people with their selfie-taking is so typical of the self-centred attitude of so much of the world today. Everyone, it seems, is primarily geared toward promoting themselves and in getting as much of everything they can for themselves. Today’s text certainly doesn’t describe today’s selfish and grasping world. But it should describe those of us who are Christians.
Our conversation, or manner of life, should be to serve and help others, as the Lord Jesus taught and showed us. His example shows us the attitude that is most pleasing to God, and that will bring the most satisfaction and joy to ourselves. We know the text ‘It is more blessed to give than to receive’ (Acts 20:35)’, a quotation of the Lord Jesus recited by Paul in his address to the Ephesian elders. The happiest people we know, especially the happiest Christians, are not those who have the most but those who give the most. A well-known proverb also tells us that there are two types of rich people: those with enough money to satisfy all of their many wants, and those who have few wants. The second type of rich person is what our text is speaking about by telling us to be content with such things as we have. Just think, we can become rich just by deciding that we don’t want all of the material things that the world is chasing after! How can we adopt such an attitude? By accepting the promise that our text offers.
No promise of the Word of God carries more comfort than the words ‘I will never leave thee nor forsake thee’. This promise – originally delivered by God to the Israelites as they prepared to enter the promised land (Deuteronomy 31:6) – means that our Lord will always be with us to provide for all of our needs, whether material or spiritual. So, if He will always make sure that we have all that we need, we have no reason to devote ourselves to chasing the things that everybody around us thinks that they need.
Our contentment in Christ will lift us above the covetousness and greed of the world, and will make us to be more like Himself. – Jim MacIntosh