Provide neither gold, nor silver, nor brass in your purses,
Jesus is sending his twelve closest followers on their first independent mission to spread his message throughout the region of Galilee. As they prepare to go, he gives them an unusual instruction: don't pack money — no gold, no silver, not even copper coins. This command is part of a larger set of "travel light" directives that includes no bag, no extra clothes, no sandals, no walking staff. Jesus was training his disciples to depend completely on God's provision and the hospitality of those they served, rather than on their own resources and backup plans. The empty money belt wasn't an oversight — it was the whole point.
God, I want to trust you — but honestly, I usually trust my backup plans more. Teach me what it looks like to depend on you in real, practical ways. Loosen my grip on the things I clutch for security, and let me be surprised by how you show up. Amen.
Most of us keep a backup plan. A savings cushion. An emergency credit card. A Plan B tucked away for when things go sideways. There's wisdom in prudence — but Jesus' instruction cuts against something deeper than financial planning. He was forming people who would trust God's provision in real time, not in theory. The disciples couldn't pretend to depend on God while quietly clutching their own safety net. The empty belt was the sermon. This doesn't mean God wants you broke or reckless. But consider where you've padded your life so heavily against risk that there's genuinely no room left for God to show up. The disciples came back from this mission astonished — they'd seen healings, been welcomed by strangers, been taken care of in ways they didn't arrange. What might you experience if you loosened your grip on one backup plan? Not all of them. Just one. What's the thing you're holding so tightly that it's actually holding you?
Why do you think Jesus told his disciples to leave their money behind — what was he trying to form in them beyond just a travel policy?
Where in your own life do you find it hardest to trust God's provision without having a personal safety net in place?
Is there a meaningful difference between wise planning and a failure to trust God — and if so, where is that line for you?
How does your financial security or insecurity shape your willingness to be generous with the people around you?
What is one specific area this week where you could intentionally depend on God rather than your own resources, and what would that actually require of you?
But I keep under my body, and bring it into subjection: lest that by any means , when I have preached to others, I myself should be a castaway.
1 Corinthians 9:27
But I say unto you, that it shall be more tolerable in that day for Sodom, than for that city.
Luke 10:12
And whosoever shall not receive you, nor hear you, when ye depart thence, shake off the dust under your feet for a testimony against them. Verily I say unto you, It shall be more tolerable for Sodom and Gomorrha in the day of judgment, than for that city.
Mark 6:11
Do not take gold, or silver, or [even] copper money in your money belt,
AMP
Acquire no gold or silver or copper for your belts,
ESV
'Do not acquire gold, or silver, or copper for your money belts,
NASB
Do not take along any gold or silver or copper in your belts;
NIV
Provide neither gold nor silver nor copper in your money belts,
NKJV
“Don’t take any money in your money belts — no gold, silver, or even copper coins.
NLT
"Don't think you have to put on a fund-raising campaign before you start.
MSG