You call on the Blood of Christ to cover your excursion, and you ask for perfect travel, no problems, and only satisfied clients. But what is this Blood given to secure for you? Not an untroubled journey or the success of a small business. The chief point of the salvation wrought for us is that the bonds of death were loosed, sin taken away, the curse abolished, and ten thousand spiritual blessings introduced into our life. If you seek only a day without mishap and the gladness of customers, you are content with the shadows of blessing, like Israel of old, who heard, "The Lord bless the fruit of your body," yet never attained the things to come. For consider Jacob: he received the blessing, yet spent his days in servitude, danger, and fear, crying, "Few and evil have my days been." His brother enjoyed ease and security. Where then did the blessing find its fulfillment? In the world to come. The true blessing is not a smooth excursion but the inheritance of sons, righteousness, and glory with Christ.
You plead that everything be covered by the Blood of Jesus: the bus, the guide, the driver, the way, the weather, the hotel, the food, the water. It is well to do all in the Name of the Lord, for where that Name is invoked, all is made auspicious. When you eat, drink, travel, or conduct any business, first pray and give thanks, calling on God to aid you. But do not mistake the purpose of such prayer. You ask that the Blood make the road smooth and the clients happy. Are you not then treating the Blood as a charm for worldly ease, rather than as the power that casts out the devil of covetousness from your heart? The fulness of the blessing of the Gospel is not satisfied tourists but a soul adorned with every good deed, ready to bring forth fruit meet for the husbandman. It is God, not your management, who gives increase, and the earth yields her herbs by His command. If He grants a safe journey and grateful travelers, receive it as a secondary blessing, but seek first that you and those you serve be satisfied with the salvation that is in Christ.
You long for perfect travel and no problems. But the Master Himself warned, "In the world you have tribulation." He did not promise a life free from toil or business without adversity. He called us to the narrow way, confident in our Guide yet fearful of the precipices on either side. If you fall into the slumber of worldly care, you will be swept away. Travel, then, as a householder instructed in the kingdom, who brings forth out of his treasure things new and old: the spiritual blessings of the new covenant and the sober wisdom of the old. Know that the Blood of Christ already covers you with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places, making you free, immortal, a fellow-heir with Christ. What lack you then? Shall He not with Him freely give you all things? He will, but His way may not be your way. The excursion may bring trial, but if you stand fast, you will find that even there the blessing is not absent; for the kingdom of heaven has come to you, and you need not war against your own salvation by fixing your hope on perishable gain.
So pray, yes, but let your prayer be this: that whether the day brings calm or storm, you and those who travel with you may be found clinging to Christ, covered not by a blood that wards off inconvenience, but by the Blood that cleanses from sin and leads to life. Do all in the Name of Christ, and if it prospers, give thanks; if it falters, give thanks still. For the true blessing is not the applause of men or a trouble-free venture, but the hope laid up for you in heaven.