TRAVELING LIGHT

I'm packing my suitcase to visit my mom next week and this time I vow I will travel light.  I always pack way too much and it isn't as if she doesn't have a washer and dryer to do laundry.  My reasoning for accomplishing this, is so I can take a smaller bag, not have to check it at the gate, and I won't have to wait at the carousal for my luggage to magically or not so magically appear.

Along with planning this trip, my husband and I have been talking about making some vacation plans for the summer.  We have tossed around some ideas and even mentioned camping. (Which we did plenty of times when our children were little.) However, being realistic at the age of 65 and the fact that we do not have a self contained camper with all the luxuries of home, we nixed that idea pretty quickly! Once I began making a list in my head of all things we would need like blow-up mattresses, dishpans, camping stove, coolers, etc. we just shook our heads and said to ourselves, "Ain't nobody got time for that!"

This got me to thinking about this whole idea of packing lightly.  In Matthew 10, Jesus is sending out the twelve disciples to be witnesses and healers to the lost sheep of Israel. (vs. 6)  He goes on to tell them in verses 9-11:  "Do not take along any gold or silver or copper in your belts; take no bag for the journey, or extra tunic, or sandals or a staff; for the worker is worth his keep.  Whatever town or village you enter, search for some worthy person there and stay at his house until you leave." (NIV)

Talk about traveling light!  No money, no suitcase, no clothes or shoes, not even a staff!  Why in the world would Christ tell them to do that?   The text doesn't say, but perhaps for several reasons.  Could it be that Christ wanted them to experience what it means to really count on God for their daily needs?  Could it be that Christ wanted them to appreciate the total hospitality of the people they encountered along the way?  Could it be that He did not want them encumbered with all the stuff that you and I are encumbered with each day?  Like coffee pots (ouch), hairsprays, body sprays, shampoos or curling irons (now hold on there...those are necessities!) And just could it be that when they had to skedaddle (Missouri term) out of town, for their own safety or because He wanted to use them elsewhere, they didn't have a lot of stuff to gather up and be responsible for?  Hmmm...things to think about.

My mentoring challenge for all of us today is this:   You've heard the expression, "You can't take it with you"?   Just perhaps we all have a tendency to hold on too tight to our possessions, our comforts, our stuff, and God is asking us to trust Him that He will care for us.  I learned that lesson very quickly when my husband was laid off from a job he had held for 37 years.   But I can undoubtedly say, Our God was faithful!  Sound like another passage you've heard?  "Therefore I tell you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat or drink; or about your body, what you will wear.  Is not life more important than food, and the body more important than clothes?  Look at the birds of the air; they do not sow or reap or store away in barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them.  Are you not much more valuable than they? (Matthew 6:23-26, NIV)

Well, "My bags are packed"....(just had that song running through my head) and yes I am taking my curling iron because I don't want to scare half of the state of Missouri with my wild and crazy hair!  But I will keep close to my thinking this idea of packing light and just what it is that I am carrying a lot of.  I won't be posting next week since I will be giving mom my undivided attention, so I will get back to you the following week.  Who knows what lessons God will be teaching me in between?