With all the costs that go into checked baggage on flights today, it is interesting to watch the amount of "luggage" people tote around the airport as carry-on luggage. The majority of the stuff people carry includes their clothes for the trip, electronic devices they don't want to risk checking, and snacks for the flight and the airport. As we walk around the airport, we find ourselves waiting with great expectation for the point when we can put our luggage down, lifting the weight off of us. Our backs and legs gasp with a sigh of relief as we release the extreme pressure and weight.

As I experience this in my own life, and watch other travelers "bearing the load," I consider how many men and women carry around the "luggage of life," that does not bring about hope and peace, but despair and frustration. This "luggage of life" is anxiety, worry, sin, broken relationships, hurt feelings, etc. We tend to carry the load out of a mindset of either "grin and bear it" or "pull yourself up by your bootstraps" seeking to "fix ourselves."

In Matthew 11:28-30 Jesus said, "Come to me, all you who are struggling hard and carrying heavy loads, and I will give you rest. Put on my yoke, and learn from me. I'm gentle and humble. And you will find rest for yourselves. My yoke is easy to bear, and my burden is light." Jesus' offer to us is absolute surrender of all things in our life, including the parts that might be considered "baggage." I think what is interesting is that in this verse Jesus takes upon himself the load that we might find rest. This rest comes as we exchange the yoke of the world for the yoke of Jesus Christ. As we release our worry upon Christ and allow our lives to be placed under the authority of Jesus Christ.

I will admit this is not easy, and it is a daily, intentional releasing that yoke to Jesus Christ. I find myself each morning having to lay down my burden of an unsold duplex in Troy. I have spent many nights and days worrying about the future, but each time this anxiety comes, I find myself giving it over to Jesus once again. I give thanks to Jesus for His patience with me when I grab that yoke of anxiety once again, and I hear His still small voice saying, "Take my yoke, not that yoke. You can rest and trust in me."

What yoke of the world or "luggage of life" are you carrying unnecessarily? How do you need to release that yoke to Jesus? Are you willing to wear the yoke of Christ and find rest? What keeps you from making this surrender?

Prayer: O Lord, I trust you and I confess I struggle with my desire to relinquish control of the "luggage of life" that sucks the life out of me. Today, I give you my yoke of anxiety, worry, sin, broken relationships, hurt feelings,___________(add a personal struggle here), and I pray I will find rest in you. Thank you in advance for what you are doing in my life. Amen.