The Unforsaken Ones

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"Keep your lives free from the love of money; and be satisfied with what you have; for God himself has said, "I will never fail you or abandon you" (Hebrews 13:5).

The writer of Hebrews tells us, "be satisfied with such things as you have." So, what "such things" are we to be satisfied with; what is it that we now have? You can create you own list, but let me help get you started:

We have forgiveness of all our sins; the cancellation of our unpayable debt; the release from the burden of guilt and shame. Surely this is a great possession, for there are many who drink and drug themselves into unconscious shame trying to purge their minds of the relentless sting of all their dark failures; only to awaken once again with the list compounded by more and more transgressions. What a hopeless hole in which to fall!

We have freedom in Christ to pursue the full measure of God's purposes for our lives, and to proclaim His great love to all. Free to be the men and women God created us to be, and has called us to become. Free, despite the weak powers that are set against us; despite those entanglements which continually pull about our feet, ever trying to trip us up, and tie us down.

We have fellowship with God, and with one another. There is peace between us and our God, and there is peace between us. There is a friendship that far excels the natural affection of family ties; a bond of love much more superior to mere brotherhood. We are each enfolded into a growing family of worshipping warriors, who are possessed of a love that will lay down its life for another. We are one in the Spirit; we are one in the Lord.

We have faith, which cannot be denied, destroyed, nor dismissed. We see the invisible, endure the improbable, and do the impossible. We ignite the dead zones with life and light; we instill hope into hopeless places, and bring joy to the downtrodden. Faith is the victory that overcomes the world -- and this FAITH is but one of the things we now have.

We have a future which is resplendent and full of great things. There is a City, whose builder and maker is God; and this City is our Home. There is a King who reigns in righteousness, and this King is our Savior and Lord -- Jesus. There is eternal life which is ours to live, and bright purposes for us to fulfill -- which, even if we were told what they were, would be so incredible that we would not believe it!

These few things, along with a great supply of yet untapped resources, even now are at our side.

Yet all this is but a side note to the primary point of the verse. We have the ONE THING that makes all other things possible. We have God's own word of promise, His unswerving commitment to be to us everything we need in every circumstance we face. See the verse once more in this light: "be satisfied with such things as you have, for God Himself has said, 'I will never fail you or abandon you!'

We are of all people on the earth the most to be envied -- for we are the Unforsaken Ones!
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