[Jesus] charged them to take nothing for their journey except a staff — no bread, no bag, no money in their belts. Mark 6:8-9
“I wonder how much faster turtles could travel if they didn’t have to carry their houses with them. Without the heavy shell, turtles could slither over the rocks as fast as their cousins, the lizards. If birds had to carry such a load, they’d never get off the ground.
Possessions and the debt I incurred for them are slowing me down. I have too many things that need taking care of: clothes to wash and fold and put away, plants to water and feed, knickknacks and furniture to dust and sometimes repair, so much food I don’t know what’s in the freezer. And worrying about paying for all those things is heavier than any turtle shell in the world.
I am going to start traveling lighter. I can get along with a lot less than I have, and being debt-free will let me move through life without a burden.”
Kristen Johnson Ingram in Devotions for Debtors (Garden City: CrossAmerica Books, 2002) 1.
In this little book filled with 120 devotionals to inspire people toward debt-free living, Ingram opens by urging readers to “start traveling lighter.”
Are you a turtle? Do you feel like you are carrying the burden of a house on your back? What would it look like for you to “start traveling lighter” through life?
Notice the context of the Scripture that accompanies the devotional. Jesus is sending the disciples out on mission. They cannot engage in missional living weighed down by possessions. Neither can we!
Ingram adds these thoughts for further reflection: “Write down ten things you don’t need or even want very much. Decide what you’ll do with them: give them to charity, pass them on to a family member, or sell them at a garage sale. Every time you get rid of something reward yourself by listening to music, calling a friend or having a cup of [coffee or] hot chocolate.”
Don’t wait another day. Begin this week. Start traveling lighter. She concludes with this prayer. Dear Lord, turn me from turtle to bird. Help me to unload my burdens today. Amen.