Where do you seek to stay when you travel? Do you stay with family or friends? Do you find a nice hotel to stay in? Do you pull a camper and set up in a campground? How much do you depend on others when you travel? Are you sure it is not more than you think?
Traveling comes with all kinds of considerations. We must decide where we will stay, how we will get there, how much we plan to spend, and when we will travel just to name a few. All of these require us to depend on others, whether we like to admit it or not.
Consider where we will stay. If we are staying with family and friends, we are depending on them. If we are staying at a campground, we are depending on the campground staff. If we are staying in a hotel, we are depending on the hotel staff. If we travel by vehicle, we depend on rest area staffs, gas station staffs, and maybe restaurant staffs. If we are traveling by air, we may still depend on gas station staffs, also airport staff, airline staff, and perhaps rental car staffs. We depend on a lot of people when we travel.
When the apostle’s traveled, they did not have near the number of people to depend on. Yet, Jesus tells them to be aware of the people they do depend on. If someone was unwilling to welcome them, they were to shake the dust off their feet and go on. We might say today to let it be like water off a duck’s back. In other words, don’t let it bother you. Don’t complain. Don’t worry. Simply let them be and go on your way.
Unfortunately, we like to complain. If someone at a hotel is rude, we feel like we must harp on it for half an hour, then bring it up the next time we talk about our travels with family. We simply don’t let it go. Based on the instructions Jesus gave the apostles, and we often apply to ourselves, I would say we are disobeying Jesus when we do such a thing. Let’s simply let it go and move on as Jesus says to do.
I pray we all recognize how many people we depend on when we travel. I pray we shake it off if someone is rude. I pray each one of us seeks to obey Jesus as we travel. Let it go. Shake it off. Obey Jesus. Move on. Keep your eyes on Jesus.
Mark 6:10-11 He said to them, “Wherever you enter a house, stay there until you leave the place. If any place will not welcome you and they refuse to hear you, as you leave, shake off the dust that is on your feet as a testimony against them.”
Marty Pressey 