Baggage …
April 2022
Many years ago I had the opportunity to work for an airline as a ticket agent and gate agent. In the few years of working in such a position and even now as an airline pilot, I’ve come across millions of passengers. These passengers are such a diverse group of people, vary in every category… some young, others old; some single and others married, and many with families. I’ve seen people from all corners of the globe, travelling for all sorts of reasons… vacation, business, weddings, divorce, birthdays, death and many more. When they come to the ticket counter to check in for their flight, some have several bags to check and others just have carry-on bags. But, without a doubt, out of the many passengers I have seen, no matter how diverse and dynamic, they all have one thing in common… they all have baggage. I have yet to see someone travel with absolutely no baggage.
We All Have It
Isn’t this true with all of us? We are traveling in this journey of life and we all have baggage. There is not a single one among us without baggage. No matter how different we are, no matter where we come from, we all have baggage.
If I were to use the analogy of baggage as representing sin in our lives, it could be any number of things. I would like to focus on just one particular type of baggage. It could be where someone wronged you or where you wronged someone. It could be a coworker, a neighbor, a spouse, perhaps a friend, or even a fellow church member. The degree of offense could vary from something petty to something deep and evil. This quarrel, argument, fight or misunderstanding could have happened this morning or even 10 or 20 years ago. Perhaps it has never been resolved, and it has turned to anger and bitterness, all because the involved parties never showed compassion or forgiveness. At the end of the day that is what it is all about…forgiveness.
Forgiveness Is Not Easy
Forgiveness is one of the hardest things for us to do. It is one of those things easier said than done. We know what we should do, whether it is to forgive or to ask for forgiveness. And many times the latter is much harder. So I would like to encourage all of us to check in our baggage, not carrying it on and especially not reclaiming it. Check in your baggage and give God the control. Surrender it and let God take care of it. He is the only one who can take it from us and cleanse us from sin, because it is He who paid the ultimate price and purchased us.
Freedom in Forgiveness
If the circumstances of life make it really hard to stand, then kneel and take it to the Lord in prayer. Just surrender to God and trust in Him, and pray for His will to be done. Forgiveness sets us free. God created us to be free and not to carry this baggage. So check it in and don’t carry it on our journey of life. Forgive as you have been forgiven and give to others what has been given to you. JGJ
“Come to Me, all you who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Take My yoke upon you and learn from Me, for I am gentle and lowly in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For My yoke is easy and My burden is light.” Matthew 11:28-30
This article was written by Jake Joseph. Jake is a pilot with a major U.S. airline, serves on our FCAP Board of Directors, and effective this month is the new General Director of FCAP.
More to come…
Jake will share three additional thoughts related to this topic starting next week in our FCAP THOUGHT FOR THE WEEK. You can read them on www.FCAP.org or click here to sign up to receive our THOUGHT every week.