*The following article was originally published in The Henderson Daily Dispatch, Saturday edition, March 3, 2012.I love to travel - both home and abroad. But, there’s much about traveling I don’t know. For example, I don’t know how a Boeing 747, filled with 400 passengers and weighing in at 900,000 pounds, can stay in the air. I don’t know why they don’t build the whole plane out of the same metal they use to build the little black box. I don’t know why (as a man) I would rather de-claw a lion than stop and ask for directions. But most of all, I don’t know how to travel light. I always take the Scout’s motto seriously – be prepared. It’s important to think of everything when packing for a trip, but that doesn’t mean you need to take everything!
Perhaps you’re reading this and thinking, “Traveling light is not a problem for me. I can toss a few items into a duffle bag and I’m out the door!” Well, hold on just a minute. I’m not a betting man, but I would venture to say that you, too, have been known to pick up a few bags. Traveling light applies to trip taking, but it also applies to the journey we call life.
Perhaps this morning you picked up some bags before you even headed out the door. You may not have walked over and physically picked them up, but they are just as real in your mind. You see, these bags are not made of leather; they are made of burdens. We often carry them around as guilt, discontentment, disappointment, bitterness, unforgiveness, loneliness, worry, fear, doubt and grief.
Consider these words from Jesus:
“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 (NASB)
Jesus wants us to understand that lugging luggage is exhausting. Not only that, but it’s also damaging to our relationships. Consider a wedding ceremony. The groom stands at the front with his arms filled with bags of guilt, anger, and arrogance. The bride comes down the aisle and she’s carrying her own bags of prejudice, loneliness, and insecurity. Finally, both are standing together at the altar, only you can’t see them because of the mountain of luggage surrounding them. When given the green light to kiss as husband and wife, they can’t even get close to each other because of all the baggage! The bags we carry impact the intimacy that we enjoy with God and with one another.
Truth is, we all lug luggage. If you’re not exhausted yet, you will be. If it hasn’t damaged relationships with those you love, it will. Don’t think for a minute that bags of anger, unforgiveness, prejudice and fear aren’t damaging. Those bags have destroyed many lives and families. Don’t wait until they do. Jesus says right now, “Why are you trying to carry burdens that you were never intended to carry? Trust Me and find your rest in Me.”
While there are many things I don’t know about traveling, there is one thing I have come to know about this journey called life; I can’t make it on my own. And you can’t either.
1 Peter 5:7 (KJV)
By: Brett W. Marlowe