Baggage

May 26, 2021

Breakfast and a meeting with three friends, followed by installing a package of bees in a hive, mowing the lawn, writing a Memorial Day sermon, and mucking out the pond; it’s been a busy day! I am thankful tonight for the mercy of Christ that gives me the strength to do all this, and the grace that opened my eyes to see that it all comes from the Father’s endless and infinite love. As John says, “What manner of love is this, that we should be called the children of God?” When I look at the baggage so many carry around and the challenges they’ve had to overcome, I am humbled. We never know by looking at the outside what some have been through or what they are presently enduring. What I do know is that in Christ we can be set free, forgiven, and healed if we are willing to drop our defenses and allow the Holy Spirit to dig deep to expose those areas where we’ve hardened our hearts and walled ourselves off from God and others. 

Whenever we meet people, we often ask, “How are you doing?” It’s a greeting; we rarely expect the other person to actually tell us, or if they begin to do so, we wiggle and squirm to get away. We don’t really want to know, and we usually don’t want others to know how we are really doing, so we answer, “fine,” and hope there is no deeper probing. 

Lord, may we be honest before the searchlight of your Word, allowing you to dig deep to dislodge any resistance to the probings of your Holy Spirit. And when you reveal something that needs to change, may we have the courage to let you do your work, that we may be set free and that Jesus Christ may be clearly seen in us. Amen.