Less Baggage, More FreedomSample

Before you take any trip, you take time to pack.

If you're like my wife, you start packing long before you leave and build a list to make sure you don't forget anything. If you're like me, you wait until the day before, overpack, and end up running to the store when you arrive because you forgot something. As a result, she generally has less to carry, and I'm wondering why I bring so many books I'll never have time to read!

It can be frustrating when you forget to put something in your luggage or when your bags are unnecessarily heavy. On the other hand, it's a lot more frustrating when you try to carry the baggage through life that weighs you down and robs you of joy. The season that one song calls "the most wonderful time of the year" often feels like the least wonderful time.

Our internal baggage often feels heavier during the holiday season. While we rarely (if ever) see someone carrying around a suitcase or duffel bag in our everyday lives, the truth is most of us walk around carrying unhealed wounds, anxiety, sadness, and anger.

I want to begin this Plan by asking you a critical question. What if you could go through the Christmas season and the rest of your life without so much baggage? Would you be interested in knowing how your load could be lighter? Most people would prefer a life that included less baggage and more freedom. That kind of life is possible this Advent for you.

Advent is the pre-Christmas season in the church calendar. The word Advent means "coming" or "arrival." In the church calendar, Advent is the season when we intentionally prepare for the coming of the Messiah.

That's why Christmas feels so much bigger than every other holiday. In America, Christmas is the peak moment of the year because people spend weeks and months preparing for one Day. During Advent, we create space to welcome Jesus into this world and our lives. Welcoming the arrival of Jesus requires space.

Many people are like the Bethlehem innkeeper in the Nativity Story. When Joseph and Mary show up, the innkeeper says, "I don't have room for you." Like the innkeeper, we often tell Jesus, "In my busy life, I don't have room for You. In my full heart that's carrying all this baggage, there's no space."

If you need more room for Jesus this year, consider His invitation. "Come to me, all of you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am lowly and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy and my burden is light."

That's the Good News that Jesus offers us. Certainly, He offers us Eternal Life with Him after we die. But in this life, He also invites us to find rest for our souls and experience a light burden. As we begin this Plan together, I want to encourage you with good news—God heard your prayer. He knows your baggage has exhausted you. He invites you to come to Him and find rest for your soul.

This Plan will show you how you can take your first steps in surrendering your baggage to Him and discovering the freedom He came to make possible for you.

If you're weary and ready to find rest for your soul, keep reading!!