Personal Baggage

From http://el-paso.ucg.org/  or call 1-888-886-8632.

Baggage

Are you carrying a lot of baggage around from the past? There is a positive future ahead.


[Steve Myers] You may have heard the story about the man that came up to the airline counter. He had several bags with him, and he said, "I'd like this bag to go to New York City. I want that bag to go to Los Angeles. I want that bag to go to Tampa. And I want this bag to go to Saint Louis." And the man behind the counter said, "I'm sorry sir. We just can't do that." The man just looked at him and said, "Are you kidding me? Last time I traveled that's exactly what you did." It makes an interesting point.



We carry a lot of bags with us sometimes. Sometimes that baggage isn't necessary, especially when you begin to think about the baggage of our past experiences that are sinful and that we've repented of and we've been forgiven for. And yet sometimes through this trip of life we want to take those bags along with us. But God tells us that's not the case. We shouldn't be doing that. There's a passage in Philippians chapter 3. In Philippians chapter 3:13 the Apostle Paul tells us, "Brethren, I don't count myself to have apprehended, but one thing I do, forgetting the things which are behind and reaching forward to the things which are ahead. I press toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus."



You see, in a way Paul is telling us leave the old baggage behind. Leave it. We can't dwell on the negatives of the past. When we've repented and we've been forgiven, we've got to focus and move on, onward and upward is what Paul says. The past? It's in the past. Leave it in the past. Learn from it. Don't focus on it. Don't measure your life by it. Don't let that old baggage define who you are. But instead focus on becoming everything that God wants you to become. I think it's important to remember: that old baggage, leave it behind. And remember it's not a return trip to where we used to be. With God on our side it's a new journey. So keep focused on the journey ahead, and leave the old baggage behind.



That's BT Daily . We'll see you next time.

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