The Lord spoke these words:
"This is the time to let go of your baggage! Let go of those ungodly things! Let go of those issues that encumber you! Let go of those burdens and weights that bog you down! Cast all these to Me, for I am the Lord who cares for you! Look to Me, and I will show you the many new things that you know not of yet!"
The definition of 'baggage' in this context here is 'an issue, a matter, a burden, a weight, or a hindrance regarding your past that adversely affect your current life'. Hebrews 12:1-2a says, 'Therefore we also, since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses, let us lay aside every weight, and the sin which so easily ensnares us, and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us, looking unto Jesus, the author and finisher of our faith...' Here, the word 'weight' is 'ogkos' in Greek, and it can mean 'a burden, a hindrance, or a heavy load'.
What are the 'baggages' that you still hang on to?
- Spiritual baggage (whatever sin, idolatry, uncleanness)
- Emotional baggage (bitterness, hurt, emotional wound)
- Mental baggage (thoughts/memories/mindsets that aren't useful)
- Physical baggage (clutter/junks in your house/room)
- Relational baggage (toxic relations)
- Habitual baggage (bad habits/addictions)
- Debt baggage
- Sickness baggage
Some people become miserable or self-centered, and they would blame it on the past (or some people of the past), saying, "I am this way because of how that person abused/mistreated/did so and so to me." But beloved of God, whatever your past may be, let it go, and do not hold on to it. The Lord loves you and He wants to do a new thing in your life. For you readers, I want to declare that you are not 'over the hill', but there are greater things that He wants to show you, moving forward. The best is still to come! Isaiah 43:18-19 says, 'Do not remember the former things, nor consider the things of old. Behold, I will do a new thing, now it shall spring forth; Shall you not know it? I will even make a road in the wilderness and rivers in the desert'. Indeed, to Him, nothing is impossible, and He will make rivers in the desert for you!
There are times we will never be able to understand why some things happen in our lives, or why we have to go through some 'valleys' in life. But there's one thing that we can always believe, in that 'all things will work together for good to those who love Him, to those who are the called according to His purpose' (Romans 8:28). In Philippians 3:12-14, the apostle Paul wrote, 'Not that I have already attained, or am already perfected; but I press on, that I may lay hold of that for which Christ Jesus has also laid hold of me. Brethren, I do not count myself to have apprehended; but one thing I do, forgetting those things which are behind and reaching forward to those things which are ahead, I press toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus'.
God can make you forget your toil!
In Genesis 41:51, the Scripture says, 'Joseph called the name of the firstborn Manasseh: "For God has made me forget all my toil."' We all know that Joseph had gone through much and had suffered much. He was thrown into the pit, sold as a slave by his brothers, falsely accused of having an affair with Potiphar's wife, and was eventually thrown into the prison. But the Lord was still with him, and instead of getting bitter, he got better. Through those years, the Lord worked in his life, changed his life from the inside out, and the time for God's greater works in his life finally came. Having successfully interpreted Pharaoh's dreams, Joseph rose to power in Egypt, and that's when to him was born his first son, and he fittingly called the firstborn 'Manasseh'. This name 'Manasseh' in Hebrew simply means 'causing to forget', from the word 'nashah', meaning 'to forget, to let go'. Notice in this verse also, it's God who had made him forget all his toil. The word 'toil' here is 'awmawl' in Hebrew, and it can mean 'grievances, misery, pain, sorrows, trouble, weariness, labor'. Beloved of God, He can cause you to forget all your 'toil' too, and He will know how to turn things around for you, if you look to Him and put your trust in Him. Amen!
