The Baggage Handler

Have you ever not enjoyed a trip you took because of the baggage you had to carry? Think about going on a trip and flying to your destination, and how much more difficult it would be for you to have to carry your baggage with you every where you went: on the plane, while sightseeing, while dining in a restaurant, etc. That would make the trip miserable and it would put a heavy burden upon you as well. That is why it is such a wonderful thing to be able to check your baggage at the beginning of your trip and leave it in your hotel room or wherever you are staying as you go about on your trip. What would be even better is if we could travel without the baggage at all and just enjoy our trip.
Well the Christian life is the same. There is a quote that says “Leave old baggage behind, the less you carry, the farther you go”. There is a great deal of importance to the Christian in that thought. Life presents many challenges and we all carry baggage with us from relationships, decisions we make, events in our lives, and many other things. The key is not to get weighed downed with the baggage but instead to trust the One whose job it is to handle that baggage of our lives. The baggage we carry can create such a burden upon us that we get weighed down in this life and lose sight of our God. We attempt to handle it all by ourselves and we get angry and frustrated and sometimes blame God for allowing it to happen, and in the end it causes us to forget God and what he offers us. Baggage is no fun and it can stop us from growing spiritually and from living a Christian life, but getting rid of baggage on our own is impossible.
That is why it is so wonderful to read passages like Matt. 11:28-30 and know that Jesus is offering to take the baggage away and in its place give us something that is much lighter and easier to handle. Or consider what Paul wrote in Phil. 3:13 where he reminds us that he himself forgets about what is behind him and reaches toward what is ahead of him. We must do the same by leaving our baggage in Jesus’ hands and striving for what lies ahead of us as Christians, the promise of eternal life in Heaven with God. The only way we can accomplish that is to truly trust our baggage with the only one who can help us, the Baggage Handler.