Sunday, May 20, 2012

May 20 (Luke 9:2-3)

[H]e sent them out to preach the kingdom of God and to heal the sick.  He told them: "Take nothing for the journey—no staff, no bag, no bread, no money, no extra tunic."  (NIV)
 
What does it take for you to do anything?  Most of us find it inconceivable to do our business without access to the Internet, usually via a smart phone and Wi-Fi.  Increasingly it seems that getting the news requires a computer, a worship service requires a Broadway production, and going for a walk requires ear buds and an iPod.
 
What trivial, meaningless, worthless task could Jesus have given his disciples that would have required none of these things, not even a walking stick, suitcase, food, cash, or a change of clothes?  It was nothing less than the greatest task anyone could ever have, to preach the kingdom of God and to heal the sick.  Had He told any of us to go and do likewise, we first would have planned the trip to the last detail through Travelocity and taken along a tablet on which to blog the details.
 
Technology is not bad.  You are reading this devotion as an email.  Yet we have to pause and ask ourselves.  How much do we think we need to do tasks of lesser importance?  What is God willing to provide to do all that really matters?
 
Father, help me to clear out the noise that comes from the stuff of the world around me, that I may hear Your call more clearly.  Help me to set aside my reliance on things and cling only to You.  In the name of Your Son, Jesus, Who embraced the wood of the cross to set me free, amen.

Copyright © 2012 by Steven R. Perkins

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