“Let brotherly love continue. Do not neglect to show hospitality to strangers, for thereby some have entertained angels unawares. Remember those who are in prison, as though in prison with them, and those who are mistreated, since you also are in the body. Let marriage be held in honor among all, and let the marriage bed be undefiled, for God will judge the sexually immoral and adulterous. Keep your life free from love of money, and be content with what you have, for he has said, ‘I will never leave you nor forsake you.’ So we can confidently say, ‘The Lord is my helper; I will not fear; what can man do to me?’”– Heb. 13:1-6
As I read through this passage again, I was immediately struck by this grouping of commands by the author of Hebrews. They are NOT things we would necessarily put together in a list. But they ARE necessary for us to glorify God as He requires.
“Let brotherly love continue”- it is to be a continuous thing to seek ways to show brotherly love and forgiveness to one another.
“Do not neglect to show hospitality to strangers…” Hospitality is being lost among Christians because we are afraid.
“Remember those who are in prison, as though in prison with them…” We must always seek to understand the greatest need that everyone has …and that is to be set free from sin…and it is our job to speak that good news.
“Remember… those who are mistreated…” We must pray and when God directs us to do something for them we are to do it.
“Let marriage be held in honor among all…” We are to uphold our marriages and our spouses publically before a watching world who does not see these as important anymore.
“Let the marriage bed be undefiled, for God will judge the sexually immoral and adulterous.” This speaks to the commandments as well as to the fact that it is God who put us together so when we sin this way against our spouse we are also sinning against God and there will be consequences.
“Keep your life free from love of money…” What drives us position, promotion or… Christ’s will?
“Be content with what you have…” This one is often hard for us to get our minds around. In The Art of Divine Contentment, Thomas Watson says, “Contentment is God’s Precept; it is charged on us as a duty. ‘Be content with what you have’ (Heb. 13: 5). The same God who ordered us to believe has ordered us to be content. If we do not obey, we run ourselves into a spiritual quagmire.”
Our lack of belief is seen in how hard it is for us to follow simple commands. These are just 6 of the many commands that the Lord gives us so that we might fulfill our purpose to bring Him glory. The reason it is hard sometimes is due to our pride and lack of belief in what the author of Hebrews reminds us of above. The Lord of Glory has told us, “I will never leave you nor forsake you.” When we forget His promises and consequently fail to do as He commands, here and other places, is it any wonder we are so confused and frustrated in life? We seek to make excuses for our behaviors and try to “fix” ourselves rather than looked to the Lord our Helper. For it is in the Lord that we will not fear what man can do to us!
Yet another reason why it is hard to follow these simple commands is this we forget as God’s children we have His Spirit which enables us to do as He commands because we can’t and won’t do them in our own strength. If we could only get our head around that, we would know that all of these… even in this life…are within our abilities because of being in Christ Jesus.
Following God’s Word to the “tee” enables us to say confidently with the writer of Hebrews, “The Lord is my helper; I will not fear; what can man do to me?”
God Bless y’all today.
In His Grip,
Pastor Mike
Ora et Labora
