He promises to be with us to the end

Hebrews 13:5 Make sure that your character is free from the love of money, being content with what you have; for He Himself has said, “I will never desert you, nor will I ever forsake you,” This verse is often misunderstood as an admonition to be content with whatever salary the Lord has given you. However, there’s a much greater encouragement here than what first meets the eye. The context helps us see what was on the author’s mind. Let’s recap what we’ve heard. He called them to enter into the promised rest through Jesus, our high priest, by confidently and continually drawing near to the throne of mercy and grace for help in time of need (4:15-16). They were to hold fast their confidence in Christ and the boast of their hope firm until the end of their lives (3:5). He encouraged them to not shrink back but endure in faith, fixing their eyes on Jesus, who sits at the right hand of God, interceding for them continually to be saved eternally. After several warnings against unbelief, he called his readers who were running the course of suffering, persecution, and rejection to “lay aside every encumbrance and the sin (unbelief) that so easily entangles” them in 12:1. Their confession was that they were strangers or foreigners in this world and also exiles on the earth (11:13). God had shaken everything in this world that could be shaken in order that the things that cannot be shaken may remain (12:27-28). Most of his readers had put their confidence in what they had, meaning money and physical possessions, but that had been shaken and taken. In light of their present ill circumstances, how were they to show their gratitude to God? For their love for the brethren to continue, they had to embrace the promise of God’s word with all their hearts. The NASB translates tropos, as character. W.E. Vines suggests it means the manner or way in which you live your life, so you can see that it isn’t a great leap to the idea of character. The typical way of all men who are at home in this world is to put their confidence in their money or possessions. The love of money drives their daily decisions and directs their paths. This will be an encumbrance in the race. It is what all unbelievers do who live their lives consumed with what they can see, experience, and accomplish in this world. The first readers of Hebrews knew by experience that living for what they could amass in this world was shakable, futile, and thus insecure. However, believers had something unbelievers don’t have. They have the incredible, unchangeable, timeless promise of God. “I will never desert you, nor will I ever forsake you.” This promise comes from several places in the O.T. Scriptures. Deut. 31:6. “Be strong and courageous. Do not fear or be in dread of them, for it is the LORD your God who goes with you. He will not leave you or forsake you.” Or Joshua 1:5, “No man shall be able to stand before you all the days of your life. Just as I was with Moses, so I will be with you. I will not leave you or forsake you.” Then out of the mouth of our Savior, to His disciples, we hear in John 14:16, “And I will ask the Father, and he will give you another Helper, to be with you forever.” And Matt. 28:19-20, “Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you. And behold, I am with you always, to the end of the age.” With those words, we are to be content. The love of God flows out of the man or woman whose way or manner in life is confidently and continually guided by the truth of those words. The question is, “Do we believe Him when He promises to be with us and help us?” Our encouragement today is to believe that we can live to love with Jesus in any circumstances we find ourselves in because Jesus is with us to help us. If we believe Him, then we run our course, fixing our eyes on Jesus and drawing near, abiding in Him to receive the ...