Daily Devotional | Day 273
“And He [Jesus] said to them [the Apostles], ‘Take nothing for the journey, neither staffs not bag nor bread nor money; and do not have two tunics apiece’” (Luke 9:3, NKJV).
God will not send you where He will not provide for you. He will not send you where He will not protect you. That is why the best place to be is to be where God wants you. If you are where he wants you, you will know. If you are not sure, seek the spiritual guidance of a mature Christian whose judgment and discernment you value.
At the beginning of Luke 9, Jesus sent the 12 Apostles to preach the kingdom of God and to heal the sick. Part of the instructions for the assignment is what we read in today’s opening passage. Jesus begins by saying, “Take nothing for the journey.” To make sure the Apostles heard Him right, He specified the things they couldn’t take with them: no staff, no bag, no bread, and no money. They could, however, take a tunic, but only one piece.
When you read this for the first time, the question which comes to mind is, “Did Jesus really mean that?” You know the response: If Jesus said it, then He meant it. One wonders if any of the Apostles protested. The Bible is silent about that. How could Jesus send 12 men on such an important mission and command them to take nothing for the journey? There are a couple of reasons. But let’s talk about one, for now.
For God, the mission to preach the Gospel is the single most important mission. Why? Because what is at stake is the eternal salvation of precious souls. If you’re not convinced, think about the fact that there is more joy in heaven over one sinner who repents than ninety-nine righteous people who have no need of repentance (Luke 15:7). Every soul is precious in God’s eyes.
When the Lord commanded the 12 to take nothing for the journey, He was telling them that He needed them to focus completely on the mission. People get distracted by money and the cares of life. When that happens they lose focus and become compromised. When God sends us, He wants our full attention to be on the mission. He wants us to focus on Him and the assignment. Let’s leave everything else to Him. He won’t send us, if He won’t take care of us.
Today, let’s pray that the Lord will deliver His messengers from whatever can be a distraction to their calling. Amen.
For further study: 1 Kings 17:1-15 and 1 Corinthians 7:25-40
Higher-Self Realities 