Intertribal Life Newspaper -

Have you ever been to an airport and watched people with their luggage? They are weighed down and some really struggle-pushing carts with four or five pieces piled up or pulling one big suitcase with other bags strapped over their shoulders.

The baggage slows them down and hinders their walk to get to their destination. I'm sure some would love to be able to take their bags full of valuables and necessities to their seating area, but there simply isn't room, their flight would be not be enjoyable and besides that, the airline simply wouldn't allow it. It's always nice to be able to get your bags to the check in and then plop them on the conveyer belt as they are whisked away to their proper place!

When I watch this sight, I'm reminded of how people carry their burdens of guilt, shame and fear with them as they attempt to live. It just doesn't work! Our baggage ruins every relationship, but worst of all, it ruins our relationship with God.

These things weigh us down and keep us separated from God who is the only One who can lift them from us and give us the peace and rest that we really need. Every sin we commit becomes a dark blot on our soul, that only God can remove. If one person commits five sins a day and they live to be 60 years of age, that's well over 100,000 sins! The Bible says if we are guilty of breaking one commandment we are guilty of breaking them all.

This is an unbearable burden. No wonder people turn to all kind of addictions to try and find peace.

Peace is available, but strangely enough the devil keeps people fearful and holding onto their burdens just like some people try to get their luggage into the overhead bins because they don't want to be separated from the bags.

God won't allow us to carry our baggage into Heaven. He doesn't want us to carry them down here either. They hinder us from being truly free to live as we were created!

Jesus said, "Come to me all of you who labor and are heavy burdened and I will give you rest" (Matthew 11:28). He bore the judgment for your sins at the cross so that you wouldn't have to carry them. He suffered the death penalty so that you could have real life and escape judgment forever in Hell.

Are you laboring, trying to make yourself happy and satisfied, while you carry around your baggage of sin? (John 6:27). Do you hold onto your guilt and burdens like others at the airport who don't want to let their baggage go?

You can release them all to the Lord Jesus Christ and be free! Jesus promises that your sins will be carried away to the depth of the sea and separated as far as the east is from the west (Psalm 107:12). It's a choice that only you can make. How foolish it would be for people to not release their baggage onto the conveyer belt at the airport-they would miss their destination! Those who hold onto their sins will also miss the destination of Heaven (John 3:36). It doesn't have to be so. Let go of your baggage and give it to the Lord. The work is done; He said "It is finished!" Why labor any longer?

Becky Kew shares Good News at Sandy Bay First Nation, Manitoba, Canada. BeckyKew@outlook.com