Take no gold, or silver, or copper in your belts, no bag for your journey, or two tunics, or sandals, or a staff; for laborers deserve their food.

Jesus commands his apostles to rely on God dramatically and totally.  We are not the apostles and we are not being commissioned like this.  But I believe he seeks a similar depth of compete reliance on God from each of his believers.  Ours is typically not a dramatic financial reliance but a spiritual and even emotional reliance.

Our spiritual needs are great, whether we acknowledge them or not.  Yet because of the difficulty of faith, our lack of perseverance, or unwillingness to pray, we've so often turned to the world to find life's meaning or our vocation in life.  And how many of the rough patches in life's road have we sought to move across by an endless parade of idle distractions and empty pleasures?  In doing so we travel "with coins in our purses" - while we keep our faith we aren't willing to toss ourselves entirely at the feet of the silent Christ when we have needs.

"The laborer deserves his food."  Thus, in our labor of faith we have a right to expect to be fed by Christ.  But we have to sit down at the banquet of his word and body, not the impoverished table of the world.  Or shall we carry around two tunics: a rich, embroidered one which fits us perfectly or a tattered, torn one which always leaves us cold?  "Cast all your cares on Christ, because he cares for you." (1 Peter 5.7)

Finally, this command proceeds out of the mercy and love of Christ.  It is for our good.  Reliance on him alone will help move us through this world of pain.  In time it will diminish and extinguish the fiery tension we feel in ourselves between the world, whose roots have grown deep in our hearts, and the truth which we know will set us free.