Never Leave

Keep your lives free from the love of money and be content with what you have, because God has said, “I will never fail you. I will never abandon you.” (Hebrews 13:5 NLT). 

I’ve always been fascinated by the link between money, possessions, and abandonment in the above verse. 

The Scripture encourages us to be free of loving money and to be satisfied with what we already have. 

And why? 

Because God will never leave us or give up on us. 

It’s almost as if this verse tells us that we will always have what we need when God is present. We are not to cling to money or possessions—because God isn’t going anywhere, and, in His goodness, He will always provide for us. 

The obvious conclusion, then, is that, without God, we may lack or not have all that we need. 

God provided for their every need when the Israelites wandered for 40 years in the desert following their mass exodus from Egypt. 

He guided them through a pillar of clouds by day and a pillar of fire by night. He also provided sustenance through quail and manna to satisfy their hunger, not to mention water, so that the Israelites would not go thirsty. 

That evening vast numbers of quail flew in and covered the camp. And the next morning the area around the camp was wet with dew. When the dew evaporated, a flaky substance as fine as frost blanketed the ground. The Israelites were puzzled when they saw it. “What is it?” they asked each other. They had no idea what it was. 

And Moses told them, “It is the food the LORD has given you to eat. These are the LORD’s instructions: Each household should gather as much as it needs. Pick up two quarts for each person in your tent.” 

So the people of Israel did as they were told. Some gathered a lot, some only a little. But when they measured it out, everyone had just enough. Those who gathered a lot had nothing left over, and those who gathered only a little had enough. Each family had just what it needed. (Exodus 16:13-18) 

God provided for the Israelites daily, encouraging them to depend on Him and teaching them to trust Him and rely on His faithfulness to provide for them. 

Every household had just enough. God had not abandoned them in the desert.

But, because of their hard, untrusting hearts, the Israelites eventually attempted to gather more than they needed, contradicting God’s instruction. Because of this, the food rotted and smelled awful. All because they didn’t trust God to provide for them daily. 

The Israelites wanted to be in control and be self-reliant, so they tried to gather enough food so that they didn’t need to rely on and trust in God.  

We may jeer at the Israelites, but how often do we do the same thing with our Creator? 

The lesson here is that God is for us, loves us, and wants to provide for us. We are not to cling to anything other than Him—because He is not going anywhere and will not fail us. In Him, we have everything we need.

~

Scripture quotations are taken from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2007 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Inc., Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.