4 Marriage should be honored by all, and the marriage bed kept pure, for God will judge the adulterer and all the sexually immoral. 5 Keep your lives free from the love of money and be content with what you have, because God has said, “Never will I leave you; never will I forsake you.” 6 So we say with confidence, “The Lord is my helper; I will not be afraid. What can man do to me?”
Sexual purity is so important. Sex inside of heterosexual marriage is beautiful and honouring to God. Any sex outside of that is wrong and often has devastating consequences. Few things destroy your reputation or your Christian witness more than sexual sin.
We need to be content with what we have. God is enough. If have every material possession in the world, but don't have God, we have nothing. If we have no material possessions but have God, we have everything. We can't take any of it with us to heaven anyway. This is so hard in our materialistic culture where there is always another goal - a newer house, a newer car, a better vacation. And having things is not wrong. Coveting them is wrong. Having the desire for things consume you is wrong.
What did coveting get the servant of Elijah? Leprosy.
What did coveting get Ananias and Saphira? Instant death.
We can be content with what we have when we realize that God is good and will provide what we need, that God is sovereign and knows what we need even before we do, and that we deserve nothing, that God is supreme and will provide what we need in order to fulfill the task/life He has planned for us, and that true richness comes from Christ.
We will also be content when we are in communion with God. The longer we concentrate on His glory, the less concerned we are with material things. The more we dwell on the richness that comes from Christ, the more that will be the only thing that matters.
Tomorrow's scripture focus: Hebrews 13:7-8
1 comment:
Amen to that! I love verse 5!
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