Mark 6:7-9 (NASB)
7 And He summoned the twelve and began to send them out in pairs, and gave them authority over the unclean spirits;
8 and He instructed them that they should take nothing for their journey, except a mere staff—no bread, no bag, no money in their belt—
9 but to wear sandals; and He added, “Do not put on two tunics.”

Jesus sent the 12 out on a mission, with authority from Him, but without anything else, except their staff, tunic and sandals. They had to completely depend on God. Doing God’s work without all the trappings of this world.

God wants us to accomplish His mission too. We, whether we are the richest of the rich or poorest of the poor, have possessions. But I think the point of this passage is that we must act in complete reliance on Jesus, no matter the circumstances we find ourselves.

That’s the tricky part. Because we become possessive of many things in this life. Our families, our homes, our jobs, our bank accounts, even our church. The last one in that list may be the most destructive. When we view our church, or our ministry, or our leadership in it as something that belongs to us, that ownership can take us to a place of pride, just the opposite of what Jesus intended.

The disciples had to rely on Jesus, because they went out without anything except the promise of God the Son. When they accomplished the mission, only Jesus could be praised.

Even when we start out with the best of intentions, it is easy to begin believing that it was what we did that did the trick. We start out with a servant heart and then something happens. We start looking at the results. We make comparisons. We take possession.

And that is where prayer comes in. We have to constantly plead to God that He would take any possessive thoughts from us, that we would only do His will, give Him the glory, and only look at ourselves as the empty vessels that He uses to accomplish His mission. We have to view ourselves as someone with only a staff, a tunic, a pair of sandals, and Jesus.

Jesus, thank you for the blessings that you have provided me in my life. Help me to enjoy them, but not to possess them. Send me out with only your perfect command. Amen.

Always praying for the glory of God,