Our Relationship With God - Luke 9:3, Luke 22:35-36, 2 Corinthians 5:7
Luke 9:3
And He said to them, "Take nothing for the journey, neither staffs nor bag nor bread nor money; and do not have two tunics apiece."
Luke 22:35-36
And He said to them, "When I sent you without money bag, knapsack, and sandals, did you lack anything?" So they said, "Nothing." Then He said to them, "But now, he who has a money bag, let him take it, and likewise a knapsack; and he who has no sword, let him sell his garment and buy one."
2 Corinthians 5:7
For we walk by faith, not by sight.
The Christian faith is an amazing journey down a path unknown to us, yet fully known by the Father. It is not a mere set of rules and regulations, rites, rituals, doctrines and traditions, but a vibrant, living relationship with the true and living God, the Creator of heaven and earth. Therefore, we cannot make any generalizations about what the Lord would have us to do in situations no mentioned in the cannon of scripture, the Bible. We must stop and pray, seeking His wisdom and guidance for which direction we ought to choose when we come to the forks in the road of life.
Jesus proves this point clearly in the passages mentioned above. First He tells them not to take any provisions with them. Then He asks them later if they lacked anything (which they admitted they didn't, also proving His faithfulness in providing for our every need), and then instructed them to take with them provisions for their upcoming journey. Jesus demonstrates that we are to walk by faith, and not by sight. We are to rely upon His word, not what we think or what we see. He also shows us that He will not always work in the same way, even in similar circumstances. If He did work in similar ways, we would start to assume that we ought to do this or that instead of praying. Thus He changes things around on us to keep us close to Him.
It has been said that Christianity is not a religion, but a relationship. In the purest sense of the word "religion", technically Christianity does fall under that category. However, what is meant by such statement that it is not a religion is this: It is not rules and regulations that one keeps to try and earn his way to God, but rather, it is faith and love and fellowship with the true and living God.
The word religion, as I mentioned, in its purest form would apply to the Christian faith. I have heard that in its root form it holds such a meaning as "to return to God" or "find one's way back to God". Whether or not this is 100% accurate I do not know, because I didn't do the research myself. But as defined by the Webster's dictionary it is:
1 a : the state of a religious [a nun in her 20th year of religion]
b (1) : "the service and worship of God or the supernatural (2) : commitment or devotion to religious faith or observance
2 : a personal set or institutionalized system of religious attitudes, beliefs, and practices
3 archaic : scrupulous conformity : CONSCIENTIOUSNESS
4 : a cause, principle, or system of beliefs held to with ardor and faith
I believe that the common attitude a person takes when hearing the word religion is not that of necessarily worshiping God or seeking God, devotion and faith and such, but the second definition listed above, which is a personal set (that is, instituted by oneself) or institutionalized system (such as a church or temple, etc.) of religious attitudes, beliefs, and practices. They don't think of God necessarily or trying to find Him, seeking truth and such, but of an institution, a set of rules, regulations, rites and rituals and habits that a person prescribes to. And it is generally thought that most people have such a thing in their lives.
Before I came to know the Lord, the assumption I had was such as I mentioned above. I thought everyone had their own religion, that religion was something handed down to you by your parents, like a family legacy or a name or tradition or something. I didn't think there was anything particularly special about any religion, but that you just ended up with whatever your parents were. Thus I had friends who were half Buddhist and half Catholic and things like that. Of course, this is an absurdity, for you can't be half of one religion and half of another really. Religion is not like nationality.
For this reason, I believe, people who are born again, who have come to know God through Jesus Christ our Lord and Savior, feel the need to distinguish their faith in Christ from the muriad of other religions that man has created. They seek to separate their trust and faith in the true and living God from the false teachings of men and idolatrous worship of created things. Thus we have come to sternly pronounce that Christianity is not a religion (though indeed it is), but a relationship. The word "relationship" gives a far better idea of what our walk with Christ is all about, verses the word "religion", which typically connotates some form of man-made, legalistic practice.
Our walk with Christ is never to be legalistic and predetermined, but always a walk of faith. We must always lean on our Good Shepherd to lead and guide the way, never assuming that we know what He is going to do in our lives or where He is going to lead us. His mercies are new every morning! What we know about life today can change tomorrow. But He is the same yesterday, today, and forever. Therefore we must walk by faith, not by sight, never assuming we know but always assuming we don't, trusting in Jesus all the way down this path called life.