Hebrews 13:5 Let your conversation be without covetousness; and be content with such things as you have: for he has said, I will never leave you… There are cases in which mere presence is something very bad. The presence of the desperately wicked is a grief and heart-sorrow to the righteous. The presence of a deceitful enemy is a terror to an upright and generous spirit. The presence of one of Job's comforters in the day of our sorrow is an intolerable nuisance. But the presence of a mother to a sick child, or the presence of a father to a child in bodily danger, or the presence of a medical practitioner to a sick person is as light in darkness, or as a copious dew upon withered grass. Simple presence is very good when presence has a good and sweet influence. But presence and action, presence and ministration, presence and service, is all we can desire — that is, if the individual present be such as we desire. (S. Martin.) Parallel Verses KJV: Let your conversation be without covetousness; and be content with such things as ye have: for he hath said, I will never leave thee, nor forsake thee. |
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