I was moved anew on Sunday morning as I watched the DVD, "Going Home: The Journey of Kim Jones." For those who missed the service, it was a wonderful message, packaged in a very simple story about a young woman who loved Jesus. I encourage you to rent the DVD from your local video store.
In the story, Kim likened our lives to a journey where we are all carrying backpacks while anticipating going home. I like that a lot.
As I watched, I had so many thoughts, some of which were shared during the discussion time. I'll just throw them out here, and ask you to share what your thoughts were.
1) Life is a journey, and we are all carrying backpacks. Hopefully we have packed our backpacks with things we actually need. How do we know what we need? God knows, so ask Him!
2) Anything in the backpack we don't actually have need of will be unnecessary weight that will ultimately burden us and drag us down. Decide to make your journey easier and your burden lighter by ridding yourselves of what is not absolutely necessary to the completion of the journey. Ask God what your encumbrances are. If your burden seems heavy, then you may very well be carrying something in your backpack that God does not desire for you.
Hebrews 12:1 "Therefore, since we are surrounded by such a great cloud of witnesses, let us throw off everything that hinders and the sin that so easily entangles, and let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us."
3) We all need to keep our eyes focused on Jesus and remember moment by moment that this life is a temporary thing. We are here to glorify God and serve Him. We do that in different ways, but we must keep in mind that our PRIMARY purpose is all about eternity and many of the things that we worry about have little to do with anything eternal.
Matthew 6:19-21 "Do not store up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust destroy, and where thieves break in and steal. But store up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where moth and rust do not destroy, and where thieves do not break in and steal. For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also."
My pastor's heart for all of you is to rid yourselves of encumbrances and to remember that this life is just temporary. My prayer is that you are all storing up treasures in heaven.
So what is in your backpack? Does it feel heavy? Are the things in it useful? Necessary? Do you need to make changes in the contents? Do you have a hard time remembering that life is just a journey, a temporary one? What do you need to do to keep your focus on eternity on a daily basis?
Let's get practical this week. Talk to me. What are your thoughts about this?
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Since I don't carry a backpack, I'll go with what's in my purse ... "stuff" I think I "might need" and I carry it around with me everyday everywhere. Except on weekends when we're going to, say, a ballgame or some sort of event, then I switch to a much much smaller purse that holds just the bare essentials. One Monday I forgot to switch back to my everyday purse ... and lo and behold I actually made it thru the day without all the other stuff I always carry around with me. One thing I do have to remind myself of, and daily pray about, is that while I do enjoy and appreciate my life, the circumstances of my life are NOT what gives my life meaning and significance. My joy, my peace, my contentment, my hope comes from God...the rest is just icing on the cake. What I struggle with is reminding myself I have a purpose here, that I'm not on a "cruise ship to heaven" ... but I AM heaven-bound!
ReplyDeleteHey, Anonymous! Very practical example of the backpack (purse) carrying non-essentials, but things that we think we MUST have! Thanks for sharing that! It is a new angle on what was discussed yesterday! :)
ReplyDeleteBeverly
I'm finding that, in the process of buying a house, I packed up a lot of my stuff, and lo and behold, my life is just OK without all that stuff. I find that I don't miss any of it, and in fact, I had forgotten what's in the boxes. I will be getting rid of most of the stuff, however, as it is a burden to have to clean it and protect it from my cats.
ReplyDeleteNow regarding my backpack. Yep, I tend to carry more in it than I need. But my load has been a lot lighter because my accountability partner has helped me unload the unessentials; well at least unload pieces of the unessentials. I've still got a long way to go, but I see progress. I believe my focus is now more centered on serving the Lord and less on serving "my stuff." Thanx John for Sunday's sermon.