Hebrews 13:5 Keep your lives free from the love of money, and be content with what you have; for he has said, “I will never leave you or forsake you.”

This verse gets my attention this morning. The Jewish Christian community to whom this letter was written was dealing with some very difficult adversity, to the degree that some were turning away from Jesus and returning to the lives they had known before. It could be that following Jesus meant material hardship for these Jewish believers, which prompted the writing of, “Keep your lives free from the love of money”. I could be wrong about that, but anyway…

Then we have the saying from Jesus from the gospels, “I will never leave you or forsake you”. When tempted by material deprivation, or any other sort of hardship, it helps to remember who stands with us in our struggle. Jesus.

Lord Jesus thank you for your faithfulness to us. Give us today a sense of your presence, especially for those of us having a hard time right now. We pray this in Jesus’ name. Amen.