Tough choices.
Life is full of them.
I faced one at the airport in Timisoara, Romania. We'd finished a major “Global Partners Training” event with about 150 Christian media professionals. Flying on to Bucharest to visit friends, I now toted a (massive) bright red suitcase that was entirely empty–but not quite big enough to nest my second suitcase.
On the trip over, it was loaded with supplies for the conference, all properly distributed. But now, the airline wanted $75 to transport it to Bucharest. It would cost another $75 to haul the hollow box home to Chicago. Given that I'd discovered “Bid Red” in the trash and that it's telescoping handle was no longer in the mood to telescope, it seemed like a no-brainer that I just abandon Big Red.
Still, I struggled. My heart finally yielded to my head and I let the airline counter know that I would be leaving the thing there (no need to bring out the bomb squad!).
Before condemning Big Red to a corner at the airline terminal, I removed every personal tag and double checked its many zippered pockets (something I apparently had never done since I picked the thing out of the garbage). To my shock, I discovered things I had no idea were inside: the cover of a bike manual, a large folded poster of some Italian soccer team, and (forgive me, sensitive readers) a woman’s undergarment.
Consider that I'd been toting Big Red all over Romania. The same suitcase had made a trip to Ghana, West Africa a few months earlier. Who knew I was carrying around all this unwanted stuff? (Guess I….ur….should be more careful about luggage sitting out on the curb, eh?).
May I ask you a question? Is it possible you are carrying around stuff you had no idea was actually weighing you down? Stuff that shouldn’t belong to you as a follower of Jesus. Stuff you've lugged around for a long time, maybe?
Jesus asked, “What should it profit a man if he gain the whole world and lose his soul?”
Maybe it's time to get rid of the baggage.