What's Essential

What’s Essential?  .....Not as much as you think!

If you ever take a backpacking trip over a week or ten day, you will learn that the basic needs of life (food water, shelter) become the most important things along the trail.

 

The things that you thought you absolutely “needed" when you were at home seem to fade from concern.  All that becomes important is having clean water to drink, some food to eat, and a place to shelter from the elements at night. 

Then, as you lift your pack each morning, you begin to ask, what is necessary to carry in this pack and what is just excess baggage?  As you feel the weight of the pack you wonder, did I really need to pack all these clothes, tools, camera, cooking kit, book, etc?  The daily rigors of the trail will help you decide what you really need to carry on your journey. 

In our spiritual walk, Christ promised to supply "all of our needs." A need is something that is necessary to live a healthy life. Needs are distinguished from wants because a deficiency would cause a clear negative outcome.  God's promise is pretty straight forward, but we sometimes forget His promise as we are caught up in a world that puts the focus on "me and more." The Apostle Paul puts it like this in Philippians 4:19 (New International) “And my God will meet all your needs according to his glorious riches in Christ Jesus.”

Sometimes we trudge through life burdened down with a heavy load, carrying a lot of non-essential stuff, some physical, some mental or emotional.   For those of us who say we are believers, that ought not be the case. Perhaps you are like me, I have to keep reminding myself of God's promise to "meet our needs." 

 

Simply put your trust in God and he will supply your needs and your burden will not be too heavy for you to carry.

 Happy trails! 

 

Now, let's ramble!