Traveling without luggage

[toad]

“The call of God is the call to be human, to embrace our humanity in all of its ambiguity…….The call of God is a summons to embark upon a journey of faith whose destiny is not always apparent.” Randall Balmer

Therefore if any man be in Christ, he is a new creature: old things are passed away; behold, all things are become new. (2 Corinthians 5:17)

I came across this scripture verse today as I was reading something that was written by Oswald Chambers and it brought back memories of when I first read it. When I first became a believer I was in jail and doing time for a DWI. At that time in 1983 my life had been on a downward spiral for about ten years. There is a saying going around that “if you remember the 60’s and 70’s you weren’t there.” Well I’m here to tell you that I was there and I remember them. Some of those years and the events that took place are as vivid today as when they happened. I can remember after returning home form Vietnam in 1968 how my lifestyle would go directly against the direction that society was headed. I would deliberately do things that would repulse the older folks of the day. Why we did that, I don’t really know. Maybe it was just because we could. I am sure that many psychologists would probably say that it had to do with low self-esteem, feelings of inferiority, or a drive to be noticed. These reasons could be true also. What ever it was, that desire to be different and noticed was there. This different kind of lifestyle that we (hippies) called a sub-culture, went on until the late 1970’s, and around that time society started accepting us and embracing our life style. Now that was strange, here we were trying to be different, and everyone was trying to be like us. In the mid-west there was always a distinction made between the hipsters and the greasers, but when the greasers started getting long hair you couldn’t tell who was who. And then we started seeing old people with long hair, beards and mustaches. Everyone started wearing T-shirts, and casual and relaxed became the “in” thing. There was a time not so long ago when men of standing in their community would not be seen in a T-shirt, jeans, and tennis shoes. Today many of us go to church that way. I mention all these things to give you a better understand of my life before I accepted Christ. Along with all the clothing styles, music, psychedelic art, fantasy novels, and social protests, there was in my life a continued use and abuse of alcohol and illegal drugs. When I let all things in my life run rampant, the alcohol and drugs started taking the lead. When I started reading the scripture, the gospels were first, and somewhere between Matthew and John I became a believer. When I finished Acts, Romans, and First Corinthians, I started to become strengthened in my faith, and the haze of life started clearing up a little. And then I came across 2 Corinthians 5:17, “Therefore if any man be in Christ, he is a new creature: old things are passed away; behold, all things are become new.” I envisioned my prior life as if it had been written and drawn on a blackboard with chalk, and God had taken an eraser and simply wiped it away. Oh I still have the memories, but the negative values of that self-centered lifestyle were erased and I for the first time in my life had a new start, a new road to walk without any luggage to weigh me down. At times I try and pick up some old dirty suitcase full of trash from my past, but I am reminded to let it be. I don’t have to carry it daily through my life. God has lightened my load. God has done for me what I could not do for myself…………………..JRE

“For I will forgive their wickedness and remember their sins no more.”
Hebrews 8:12 NIV

[cmc]

God had taken an eraser and simply wiped it away.

What he erases is gone- yet, as you said, he does not erase our memory of it, because I think we need it as a reminder and even as a consequence at times.
In another thread we were discussing about how Jesus scolded the Pharisees about being unclean on 'the inside of the cup' while appearing to be clean on the outside.
I remember reading the word 'residue' in what you wrote. That one word set off a line of thinking for me that goes with your thread for today.
I drink a couple of cups of hot tea each day and sometimes when I wash out the cup- there is a bit of stain there from the tea. Yes, it has been cleaned with hot water and detergent-but sometimes I may miss a spot and sometimes I need to use an abrasive cleaner on it.
My point is that this residue is like our memory of what God has erased. Even when I use an abrasive cleaner- the next cup of tea will bring back a new stain. How nice to know that His cleansing work is complete with just one washing!
He said: "Take my yoke upon you and learn of Me, my yoke is easy and my burden is light!"

[rayofsunshine]

Thanks for this post, Toad. My AH is currently in prison, and I'm printing
this out to send to him for encouragement. He had also been on a downward
spiral with drugs for the past 10 years. He had went to a Christian rehab for a
year when he first got in trouble, was saved, did really well for a while. Then
relapsed and its been downhill ever since. He says going to prison made him
want to change. He's tired of the way he was living, etc. He's says he's really
turned it over to God this time, and he feels so different. He's been reading
his Bible, sends me pages from some of the devotional books they use, and
he pencils in his notes and thoughts on the sides, which I love reading.

Anyway, he's feeling bad about the "luggage" of his past right now, and
your post is very encouraging.

Hugs and prayers to you!

[best]

God has lightened my load.

I always thought of my luggage as a huge sack. A Santa Claus type of sack but it was grey and dirty. When I would carry it over my shoulder, it would pull me to the side it was on. Made me walk in circles.
I didn't leave it at the alter. I didn't know that was what we should do.
When I went to the alter to talk with the Lord...He took it from me.
43 years of filing that sack and Jesus took the whole bag of burdens off my shoulder and set me free.

Some say you need do this or you need do that. You must say certain words and you need step to an alter for prayer.

I found that I just need be myself and talk with the Lord where I was at at the time. No fancy words, just the two of us talking one to the other.

Lord, I am a sinner and I need answers.
Jesus answered and my whole life has changed.
Thank You Lord

[best]

Rayofsunshine

Tell him he has others praying for him as well.

[rayofsunshine]

Thank you, Best! I'm printing your comments out as well, and I'll let
him know others are praying. I really connect with your answers
and I've learned alot reading your answers to others posts.

Thanks again Toad for this wonderful post.

[toad]

Originally Posted by best

I found that I just need be myself and talk with the Lord where I was at at the time. No fancy words, just the two of us talking one to the other.

Took me awhile to talk to God this way, thanks for the encouraging response my friend...........toad