Baggage

 "Go!" said the Lord. "This man is My chosen instrument to carry My name before the Gentiles and their kings, and before the people of Israel. I will show him how much he must suffer for My name." Acts 9:15-16....."Few tell us how we need to live, where we need to live, and the cross we must carry to get there." Unknown

Saul of Taursus had just been converted on the Damascus Road. He had been traveling there for the purpose of persecuting the followers of Christ, when He encountered the risen Christ on the road. The encounter not only brought about his transformation into a believer himself, but left him temporarily blinded. He'd been brought to a place in the city, and the Lord spoke to a man named Ananias, telling him to go and baptize Saul, who was now named Paul by the Lord. Paul had been chosen by the Lord to be His apostle to the gentiles, the non-Jews. In the sending, Ananias was given a message; he would be shown how much he, Paul, would suffer in the carrying out of His purposes.

In the modern church today, can you imagine how such a message would be received if it were included in our "invitations" to come to Jesus Christ? Oswald Chambers said that the church focuses on the effects, the benefits of the cross, rather than on the cross itself. We want to promote His healing, His provision, His love, mercy, forgiveness, and the abundant life He has promised us. The actual carrying of His cross, and the pain and suffering that will surely go with it, is, as Chambers says, not much spoken of. If we told the people we sought to reach of what comes with belief upon His name, well, would we even have the courage to do so? A Chinese Christian, known as "the Heavenly Man," and who has suffered terribly for his faith, wrote, "The cross of Christ is soaked in blood. If you choose to follow Him, the cross you carry will be soaked in yours as well."

I remember hearing a famed televangelist, questioned on his methods for drawing people to his ministry, say, "To catch the people, you need to use good bait." We should rightfully be repelled by that, but can we honestly deny that in some ways, in our approach to winning souls, we're doing something of the same sort? Are we, as Chambers says, offering the effects and benefits of His cross, but not His cross itself?

We need only look to the ministry of Jesus while He was on earth. He didn't promise an easy path to follow Him. He required that they count the cost of doing so, for the cost would be great. He required that they divest themselves of all the "baggage" that would hold them back from Him, and weigh them down in the following. We talk a lot in relationships of how each other's emotional baggage can hinder, even destroy the relationship. The one who comes to Christ may be forgiven and cleansed, but they still have their baggage. If we are to come after Him, that baggage must be left behind. Doing so will be painful. A great part of the suffering of carrying His cross is the leaving behind of baggage that we have grown very attached to, and have even grown to love. Jesus hid nothing in His invitations to come and follow Him. Can we say the same of ours?

I don't mean to infer that following Him brings nothing but pain. On the contrary, in Him and with Him, I have experienced joy beyond belief. Words fail to describe all the abundance I have come to know. Yet there has been suffering. Much suffering. All of it He has worked for good, and all of it was used by Him to peel away from my life "baggage" that had been slowly destroying me. Whatever effectiveness I have had in His Kingdom would have been crippled had that baggage remained with me. The Lord showed me, just as He had shown Paul. He will also show you....if you truly wish to follow Him. In doing so, you'll have nothing to lose but the baggage. So, will you come to Him, cross and all, and follow?

Blessings,

Pastor O