I have begun to travel more in recent years. Most of my trips involve long flights, strange airports, and tight connections. One lesson I have learned from these experiences is to know how to handle your baggage.
carrying baggage
Numerous problems can arise with your baggage. You can pack too much or forget to pack something you need. You can have a bag over the weight allowance, or you can stuff so much in your carry-on that it is too heavy to carry through airports….especially if you are running to catch a plane. Baggage can also get lost or damaged or the items in your baggage can break or spill. There is always the potential for difficulties with baggage.
We see this truth in our spiritual lives as well. We all have baggage as well as problems caused by our baggage. Our baggage is a source of difficulty from our past that can impact our present and our future. The baggage we take from one relationship or life experience affects our other relationships or experiences. We are wounded, broken, guilt-ridden, scared, insecure, and uncertain. We lack self-confidence and do not feel good about who we are. We carry bitterness, resentment, envy, anger, and unforgiveness around with us, as if we had them in our backpack. We can accumulate a lot of baggage as we go through life, and that baggage can weigh us down, harden our journey, rob us of our joy, and make it a struggle to survive, much less thrive.
Carrying baggage will take the life out of living. It is heavy and hard to carry. It gives us no joy to keep carrying it, but we often do not know what else to do. We desperately need help carrying our lives’ baggage.
The Baggage Handler
Jesus offers that help. He beckons us, “Cast your cares upon me, because I care for you” (1 Peter 5:7). He tells us who are weary and greatly burdened to come to Him and find the rest our soul needs (Matthew 11:28). Jesus says He came so we could have abundant life (John 10:10). Jesus takes our baggage, forgives our sins, heals our wounds, redeems our past, and restores our soul.
We all have baggage, and we all need Jesus to carry our baggage. The more intimately we know Jesus, the more abundant our lives will be. If your baggage is a burden, spend more time developing your relationship with Jesus. He is the only One who can truly handle baggage.
As Lent commences on Ash Wednesday, we are entering a time of introspection and prayer leading to Easter. Let us reflect on the significance of death preceding resurrection, urging readers to embrace a daily practice of surrendering self in preparation for our spiritual transformation.