“Come to Me, all who are weary and heavy-laden, and I will give you rest. Take My yoke upon you and learn from Me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For My yoke is easy and My burden is light.” (Matthew 11:28-30)
I was cleaning out a closet the other day and found a sea bag our son had left behind when he and his wife moved into a small apartment. He’d left it, fully packed, stuffed in a corner. It was crammed full, and I had to get my husband to help me move it.
As we pulled it from the depths of the closet, I realized how much stuff that bag could hold. When Jimmy was using it to hold his gear, it was a vital piece of equipment. But after he got out of the Marine Corps, it had been relegated to storing junk.
READ MORE: SWORD OF THE SPIRIT
That made me consider the baggage that I sometimes hold onto in my life. And I began to wonder what the difference was between the baggage I haul around, as opposed to the luggage I need to equip me for the things I need to accomplish.
One thing I’ve let become baggage is my lack of forgiveness—particularly of myself. For some reason I expect a level of perfection from myself that I would never expect from someone else. Because of this, I’ve also struggled at times to accept God’s forgiveness.
Somewhere deep inside is the fear that God has finally reached the limit of His patience with me and with my constant sin and shortcomings. Just writing this makes me shake my head because it’s so far from the truth. But I’m sad to say it’s something I struggle with.
The result of this lack of forgiveness is that I carry a lot of baggage that I don’t need to. I’m weighed down with past sins that God has long since forgiven. I also carry the baggage of unconfessed sin because I’m fearful of returning to God over and over again asking forgiveness for the same thing.
At times, I add the baggage of my own refusal to forgive someone else. I hold on to the way they’ve hurt me and try to make it into some kind of armor against getting hurt again. But that’s not what it is. Unforgiveness is just more weight to carry. And carrying that kind of weight can break a person.
Baggage is something I need to get rid of. I need to drop it at the feet of Jesus and leave it there.
Luggage, on the other hand, is something that equips us for our travels. My luggage consists of the things that God has blessed me with. It also includes the lessons I’ve learned through the struggles and the triumphs of walking with God:
- It’s the Bible verses I’ve memorized.
- The praise songs that run through my mind.
- The stories I’ve heard about God’s faithfulness.
- The memories of the times God has proved His love in different situations in my life.
Everyone needs some luggage to be equipped for the journey has God in store for us. The trick is to get rid of the baggage.
So today I ask you what I asked myself. What have you packed in your sea bags? Is it baggage or luggage for your personal journey?
