What Have You Packed?

OK... it's after 2:00 A.M. and I cannot sleep, so I figured I'd get up and write a bit of what has been running through my mind while while desperately trying to catch a few zzz's. Last evening my wife and I were talking about where we wanted to take our vacation. We kicked around a few ideas, but were not able to decide just yet. After she went to bed, I got to thinking of places we've been on previous trips and kind of took a stroll down memory lane of some of our vacations. I was thinking about a trip to Galveston a few years ago when we took my niece and her kids with us, and in my mind I recalled as we were getting ready to fly home, my nieces son had purchased a baby shark in a jar and they were not going to allow it on the plane. Through a lot of juggling and re-packing and all, we finally managed to get the thing packed and it made the trip back with us. I said all this to get to where my mind wound up tonight... I got to thinking about packing for trips or vacation.

Whenever we go on a trip and we are driving, Ashley tries to take half the house. She will take 10-15 DVD's to watch on the drive, pillows, a blanket, snacks, and God only knows what all she has in the bags surrounding her, piled up behind her seat, in the floorboard and anywhere else she can stuff something. The van is far more crowded than it need be, and most of it belongs to her. I was thinking about this as well, and I got to thinking about how we should pack for a trip. When you go on a trip, you should pack only the stuff you think you will need. It would be pretty stupid to pack winter coats, mittens and scarf if we head out to Arizona this summer as we are considering. It would be even more silly to load up our television set to take with us as well. And we sure would not want to pack a months worth of clothes for a 7 day trip. No, we need only pack what we will need, and nothing more. Now let's compare this to this journey of life in which we are striving to become closer to God as we walk with Christ. How many of us pack up and carry a lot more baggage than we need. God tells us not to take any baggage with us. OK, you're scratching your head and saying, "Pastor D, where does it say that?" Consider Matthew 11:28 " Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest." What is he saying? In essence he is telling us to lay down what is burdening us and find rest in him and we dump the baggage. And in 1 Peter 5:7 it says "Cast all your cares (anxiety, worry, stress... your baggage) on God for he cares for you." Before I head back upstairs and try to get a few hours sleep, let me give you a solid piece of advice.... before going any further in this journey of life, why don't you try giving all the excess "stuff" that you don't need to God. Leave all the baggage with Him. I promise you, He will be more than glad to take the load from you.

Peace out!