Invite Jesus to be Your Baggage Keeper

In her book, After the Boxes Are Unpacked, Susan Miller addresses the emotional, psychological, and spiritual baggage that often accompanies us through the ups and downs of life – especially when uprooted by a move. This month, we offer Max Lucado’s perspective on . . .

The Luggage of Life

Excerpt from Experiencing the Heart of Jesus
by Max Lucado

Have you ever considered the impact that excess baggage you are carrying has had on your relationships? We’ve made this point at our church by virtue of a drama.

A wedding is reenacted in which we hear the thoughts of the bride and groom. The groom enters, laden with luggage. A bag dangles from every appendage. And each bag is labeled: guilt, anger, arrogance, insecurities. This fellow is loaded. As he stands at the altar, the audience hears him thinking, Finally, a woman who will help me carry all my burdens. She’s so strong, so stable, so…

If we let Him, God will lighten our loads.

As his thoughts continue, hers begin. She enters, wearing a wedding gown but, like her fiancé, is covered with luggage. Pulling a hanging bag, shouldering a carry-on, hauling a makeup kit, paper sack — everything you could imagine and everything labeled. She has her own bags: prejudice, loneliness, disappointments.

And her expectations? Just listen to what she is thinking: Just a few more minutes and I’ve got a husband.

No more counselors. No more group sessions. So long, discouragement and worry. I won’t be seeing you anymore. He’s going to fix me.

They stand at the altar, lost in a mountain of luggage. They smile their way through the ceremony. But when given the invitation to kiss each other, they can’t. Their arms are so full of bags that they can’t embrace each other.

For the sake of the God you serve, travel light.

For the sake of those you love, travel light. For the sake of your own joy, travel light.

There are certain weights in life you simply cannot carry. Your Lord is asking you to set them down and trust Him. He is the father at the baggage claim. When a dad sees his five-year-old son trying to drag the family trunk off the carousel, what does he say? The father will say to his son what God is saying to you. “Set it down, child. I’ll carry that one.”

What do you say we take God up on His offer? We just might find ourselves traveling a little lighter.

Throw the whole weight of your anxieties upon Him, for you are His personal concern.

— 1 Peter 5:7 Phillips

The Heart of the Matter

Jesus invites you to drop the baggage you try to carry through life.

Give Him the burdens you were never intended to bear.

You cannot reach out to others if your hands are already full.

Take Jesus up on His offer and learn how to travel light.

Memory Verse

So if the Son sets you free, you will be free indeed. — John 8:36